intensio

Forms

intēnsiō f (genitive intēnsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin intendō (“to stretch out, strain”),^[2][3][1] a noun of action formed on its past participle stem ⟨intēns-⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest author to use it is Scribonius Largus (c. 47 AD), of a rigid tension of the eyes and jaws, a spasm.^[5][3][1]

Semantic evolution

Seneca uses the plural for the sun's increases and slackenings, by which it tempers its heat,^[2][3] and the fragment attributed to Censorinus applies it to pitch, naming a low, a middle and a high one.^[2][6]

In the Middle Ages it was used in music for the raising of pitch, the course of a melody and the range of a chant's opening notes above its final.^[6] Scholastic philosophy set intensio against remissio for the increase and decrease of a quality,^[7] and Thomas Aquinas speaks of the intensity of love and of turning to God.^[7] The MLW adds the senses of force, increase, excess and willpower, and notes that it was confused with intentio.^[8] Otloh of Saint Emmeram has the proverb that too much tension breaks the bow.^[8] English took intension from it about 1600.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it of a rigid tension of the eyes and jaws.^[5][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the sun's increase of heat.^[5][2]
• 3rd century AD – The fragment attributed to Censorinus applies it to musical pitch.^[6][2]
• c. 1010–c. 1070 – Otloh says that too much tension breaks the bow.^[5][8]
• 1259–1265 – Thomas Aquinas pairs it with remissio in the Summa contra Gentiles.^[7][7]
• c. 1600 – English borrows it as intension.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stretching, tension, strain, effort.^[2][3][9][1]
2. A spasm.^[1][3]
3. An intensifying, increase.^[2]
4. (music) Pitch; in Medieval Latin also the raising of pitch and the course of a melody.^[2][6]
5. (Medieval Latin) Intensity, degree, as opposed to remissio.^[7][8]
6. (Medieval Latin) Force; excess; willpower.^[8]

Usage notes

Medieval scribes often confused it with intentio,^[8] and the Lexicon musicum Latinum treats the two spellings together.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
7. ^ a b c d e Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
8. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.