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missaticum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word missaticum

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 800, Lex Francorum Chamavorum
Ultimate origin
Latin missus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mitto
French mettre
Italian messa
Italian mettere
Latin missus
Latin missaticum
From the same root
English manumission ← mitto
Latin admitto ← mitto
Latin circummitto ← mitto
Latin committo ← mitto
Latin manumitto ← mitto
Latin missilis ← mitto
Latin missio ← mitto
Latin omitto ← mitto
Latin praemitto ← mitto
Latin praetermitto ← mitto
Latin remitto ← mitto
Italian rimettere ← mettere
Italian smettere ← mettere

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mɪsˈsaː.tɪ.kũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [misˈsaː.ti.kum][1]

Forms

missāticum n (genitive missāticī); second declension[1] Also missāticus (masculine), and messāticum, misāticum, missiāticum.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin missus (“envoy; sent”) + -āticum, from the missus who carried out the king's commissions.[1][2][3] The verb behind it is mittō (“to send”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is the Lex Francorum Chamavorum (c. 800), which sets the penalty for killing a royal envoy “when he has been sent on a missāticum”.[4][2] Wiktionary dates it from 806.[1]

Semantic evolution

It first means an errand or journey made on someone else's orders, especially the round of a royal envoy (missus dominicus), and then his office, the district he covers and the mandate he is given.[3][2] It was also a diplomatic mission, the dignity of a papal legate, and a message or diplomatic note.[3][2] Tenants owed their lord missātica, journeys as a labour service, beside cartage and handwork.[2] Niermeyer records a figurative sense “calling, vocation”.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 800 – The Lex Francorum Chamavorum: the mission of a royal envoy.[4][2]
  • 819 – A capitulary: envoys sent on a missāticum.[2]
  • 887 – A diploma of Charles III: abbots used to perform the royal missāticum.[2]
  • c. 1110 – The Instituta Cnuti spell it missiāticum.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) An errand, a journey made on another's orders.[3][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) The official tour of a royal envoy (missus dominicus); his office, mandate and district.[3][2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A diplomatic or military mission; the dignity of a papal legate.[2][3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A journey owed as service by a tenant.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A message, notice; a diplomatic note.[3][1]
  6. (Medieval Latin, figurative) A calling, vocation.[3]

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 n Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Missaticum.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/missaticum. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·