Etymologically
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irritatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪr.riːˈtaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ir.riˈtat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

irrītātiō f (genitive irrītātiōnis); third declension[1] It is also spelled inrītātiō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin irrītō (“to provoke, excite”) + -tiō, a noun of action.[2][1][3] De Vaan takes that verb to be probably a denominative from Proto-Italic *rīto- (“stirred”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃riH-to- (“whirled, stirred”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Livy on;[3] Livy says that this was the first provocation of feelings, after an army had ravaged Attica and returned with plunder.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Valerius Maximus, Seneca and Tacitus use it of whatever stirs a person to a feeling or action:[2][3] Seneca speaks of a natural restlessness in the mind that moves people to change their homes,[3] and Tacitus says that the women of the Germans are corrupted by no enticements of banquets.[3][5] In medicine Scribonius Largus defines tenesmos as an irritation of the last part of the bowel,[2][6] and Gellius speaks of things contrived to excite the appetite.[6][5]

In the Vulgate it is provocation to anger, as in Sirach, where it stands beside īra,[5] and Jerome remarks that the Latin versions of Ezekiel render one Greek word by irrītātiō and exacerbātiō.[3] Medieval writers kept the sense of provocation, and a record of 1292 uses it for the baiting of a bear.[7] The Ecclesiastical Latin dictionary of Stelten also gives the sense “annulment”.[8]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of provocation to anger.[2][3][9]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a natural urge in the mind.[3][9]
  • c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it in medicine.[2][6][9]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of the enticements of banquets.[3][9]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of provocation to anger.[5][9]
  • 1292 – A record uses it of the baiting of a bear.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Incitement to some feeling or action, stimulation.[2][6]
  2. Incitement to anger, provocation.[2][5]
  3. (medicine) Irritation of a sensitive part.[2][6]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Annulment.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de