Etymologically
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mansio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmãː.si.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈman.si.o][1]

Forms

mānsiō f (genitive mānsiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin maneō (“to remain, stay”) + -tiō,[2] a noun of action from the past participle stem of the verb.[3][4] De Vaan traces maneō to Proto-Italic *m(o)n-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *mn-eh₁- (“to remain”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in Terence (190–159 BC),[4][5] who speaks of long stays on Lemnos away from home.[2]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it for staying as opposed to leaving, and for continuance in life.[2][6] From the stay it passed to the place: an abode, a dwelling, a halting place on a journey, and then the distance between two such stops, a day's journey or stage, in Pliny the Elder.[2][1] The mala mānsiō of the jurists was a form of torture.[2][7] In Late and Medieval Latin it was a station and night quarters on the road, the right of lodging claimed there, a home, a house or room, a rural settlement smaller than a villa, a manorial holding (manse) and a palace;[8][1] it also served for the many mansions of the Father's house in John 14:2.[7] Bede explains a royal vill's name as “the mānsiō of Rendil”.[7] English mansion came through Old French in the mid-14th century.[3]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of long stays away from home.[2][4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of staying and of continuance in life.[2][6][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a day's journey.[2][5]
  • first third of the 8th century – Bede uses it of a royal vill.[7][5]
  • mid-14th century – English mansion “chief residence of a lord” is borrowed through Old French.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A staying, remaining; a stay away from home.[2][6]
  2. continuance (in a state or condition).[2][6]
  3. An abode, dwelling; a stopping place on a journey, station, night quarters.[2][1][9]
  4. A day's journey, stage.[2][1]
  5. mala mānsiō: a kind of torture.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) The right of lodging on a journey.[8]
  7. (Medieval Latin) A house, home; a room.[8]
  8. (Medieval Latin) A rural settlement smaller than a villa; a manorial holding, manse.[8]
  9. (Medieval Latin) A palace.[8]

Word family

  • mansionarius
  • mansiuncula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d 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 c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson