Etymologically
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interpellatio

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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]

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