manumissio

Forms

manūmissiō f (genitive manūmissiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin manūmittō (“to free a slave”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] Manūmittō is from manus “hand, power” and mittō “to send, release”, and Ulpian explains the word as a sending out of one's hand, that is, the giving of freedom.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in the Pro Caelio and explains its forms in the Topica.^[5][6] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It was a legal term for the release of a person from the power of a master, especially the freeing of a slave.^[2] Lewis & Short and Georges describe the three forms of formal manumission: by the census, by will, and by the rod (vindicta).^[8][5] Seneca, Pliny the Younger and Gaius use it, and Seneca also uses it of the remission of a punishment.^[6]

In medieval Latin it meant the validation of a document by laying a hand on it, an authorization, and the abandonment of a property.^[9][7] English manumission is recorded about 1400, first of Christ's redemption of mankind, and soon after of freedom from feudal servitude.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero explains the forms of manumission.^[5][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of remitting a punishment.^[6][7]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius discusses it in the Institutes.^[6][7]
• c. 1400 – English manumission is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) manumission, the freeing of a slave.^[2][1]
2. The remission of a punishment.^[6][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) The validation of a document; an authorization.^[9]

Related words

• manumitto
• English manumission

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill