messio

Forms

messiō f (genitive messiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin metō + -tiō.^[2][1][3] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *met-e- (“to reap”).^[4] The root etymology is disputed: LIV separates a root meaning “to reap” from one meaning “to measure”, while de Vaan finds a shift from “measure off” to “reap” conceivable and reconstructs a single Proto-Indo-European *met-e- (“to measure”).^[4] Cognate with Welsh medi (“to mow, harvest”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in his work on farming, distinguishes “frumenti tria genera … messionis”, three ways of reaping grain.^[5][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In the Vulgate it is the time of reaping, as at the start of the barley harvest, and by a figure the destruction of a people;^[3][7] Jerome uses it in the same figurative way in his commentary on Isaiah.^[7] It could also mean the crop itself.^[3] A Council of Orléans lists reaping among the rural work to be refrained from.^[3]

In medieval Latin it was also a due paid in grain,^[8] and in Britain the duty of reaping that a tenant owed, a harvest-service.^[9] It survives in French moisson.^[3]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in his work on farming.^[5][10]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the barley harvest and of destruction.^[7][3][10]
• 538 – A Council of Orléans names reaping among rural work.^[3]
• 1352 – Accounts from Worcester record a payment to a bailiff for the reaping of grain.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Harvesting, reaping.^[2][5]
2. The time of reaping.^[3]
3. The crop, produce.^[3]
4. (Late Latin, figurative) destruction.^[7][3]
5. (Medieval Latin) A due paid in grain.^[8]
6. (Medieval Latin) The reaping owed by a tenant, harvest-service.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de