iuramentum

Forms

iūrāmentum n (genitive iūrāmentī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin iūrō (“to swear”) + -mentum.^[2][3] The TLL takes it to be modelled on sacramentum.^[4] The verb is from iūs² (“law, right”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a post-classical word, used in place of iūsiūrandum;^[3] the TLL records it from Tertullian on, meaning an oath.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The grammarian Donatus calls it a word of the common people,^[4][7] and it is missing from the poets.^[4] Ammianus Marcellinus has it, and so do the jurists in the Digest and the Code, where iuramentum praestare means to take an oath.^[3][8][9] It was frequent in Christian writers.^[4] Döderlein distinguishes iusiurandum and the later iuramentum, a civil oath, from sacramentum, the soldier's oath to his standard.^[10]

In Medieval Latin it was the ordinary word for an oath^[11][12] of every kind: to tell the truth, to keep the peace, of loyalty or homage, sworn on relics, or casual and profane.^[13] By confusion with iniuria it could also mean a curse.^[14] It lives on in Italian giuramento, French jurement and Spanish and Portuguese juramento.^[4][9]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for an oath.^[4][6]
• c. 310–380 AD – Donatus calls it a vulgar word.^[4][7][6]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it.^[7][8][6]
• 533 AD – The Digest uses it.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An oath.^[2][3][8]
2. (Medieval Latin) A curse, by confusion with iniuria.^[14]

Related words

• iusiurandum
• sacramentum

Usage notes

Iuramentum praestare is the legal phrase for taking an oath.^[3][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
11. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften