interpellatio

Forms

interpellātiō f (genitive interpellātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin interpellō (“to interrupt”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] De Vaan lists the verbs in ⟨-pellō⟩ under pellō (“to push, drive”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *pelna- (“to approach”) and Proto-Indo-European *pl-n(e)-h2- (“to approach”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Plautus' Trinummus, where a character asks another what business he has interrupting and joining the conversation.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is an interruption of a speech or discussion:^[2][3] in Cicero's De oratore a speaker says that the course of another's speech must not be checked by interruption, and Livy has tribunes who let assemblies be held without interference.^[2][6] It was also used of any disturbance of an activity, as when Cicero thinks his correspondent could do the same at home, free of interruption.^[2][7] Döderlein distinguishes it from interruptio and intercapedo, which are interruptions of any business: interpellatio is only the interruption of a speech by someone speaking in between.^[8] Quintilian uses it for a figure of speech.^[7]

The jurists used it for a summons or suit at law.^[2][7][6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it also meant intercession and formal questioning,^[9] and medieval Latin used it for intercession, an appeal at law, a request, a formal demand for payment, and a legal claim.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of interrupting a conversation.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of interrupting a speech.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy speaks of assemblies held without interference.^[2][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it as the name of a figure of speech.^[2][7][5]
• 1st half of the 3rd century AD – The jurist Paulus uses it of a suit at law.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An interruption, especially of a speech; a disturbance of an activity.^[2][3][7]
2. (law) A summons or suit at law.^[2][7]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) intercession; formal questioning.^[9]
4. (Medieval Latin) An appeal at law, a request; a formal demand for payment; a legal claim.^[10]

Related words

• interpellō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill