inventio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɪnˈwɛn.ti.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iɱˈvɛn.t͡si.o]^[1]

Forms

inventiō f (genitive inventiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inveniō (“to find, discover”) + -tiō, from in- and veniō (“to come”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨veniō⟩ to Proto-Italic *gʷn̥-je/o- (“to come”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥-ye/o- (“to come”), and notes that nouns in ⟨-ventiō⟩ may be inherited or recent formations.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[4] Köbler dates it 86/82 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the action of finding, discovery; the faculty or act of devising, invention,; and a thing devised, a plan, stratagem, all in Cicero.^[2][5][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means finding, discovery, and inventiō crucis was the feast of the Finding of the Cross.^[7][4] Medieval Latin used it for the right to strayed property and flotsam, and for a judicial sentence.^[8] English invention (early 15th century, “finding”) is from it.^[9]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it.^[4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of discovery and invention.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – English invention is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of finding, discovery.^[2]
2. Invention, the devising of something, (rhetoric) the finding of arguments.^[2][5]
3. A thing devised; a plan, stratagem.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) The right to strayed property; a sentence.^[8]

Word family

• inuentiuncula

Related words

• inveniō
• inventor
• inventum
• veniō
• English invention

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com