Etymologically
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munitio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [muːˈniː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [muˈnit.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

mūnītiō f (genitive mūnītiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin mūniō (“to fortify”) + -tiō, a noun of action.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives mūniō, older ⟨moeniō⟩, from moenia (“defensive walls”), from Proto-Italic *moini- (“protective wall”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(H)moi-ni- (“construction”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Sisenna,[4][3] who has sub hostium mūnītiōnem succēdunt, “they come up under the enemy's fortification”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Mūnītiō is the building of defensive works, “fortifying”, also the walling-in of a besieged place (Cicero: mūnītiō Thessalonīcae), and concretely, often in the plural, “a fortification, defence work”.[2][5][1] It is also the building up of a road with a firm surface (Cicero: ex viārum mūnītiōne, “from the making of roads”), and figuratively a support for a cause.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “fort, entrenchment”.[6] Medieval Latin adds “protection”, “a protected place”, “a charter” and “the validation of a deed”.[7] English munition comes from it through French in the 1530s, first as “fortification”.[8]

Timeline

  • 120–67 BC – Sisenna: sub hostium mūnītiōnem succēdunt.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of road-making.[2][3]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of fortifications.[5][3]
  • 1530s – English munition.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. fortifying, the building of defences; circumvallation.[2][5][1]
  2. A fortification, defence work, rampart.[2][5][1][6]
  3. The building up (of a road).[2][1]
  4. (figurative) A support (for a cause).[1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Protection; a protected place;[7] a charter; the validation of a deed.[7]

Word family

  • munitiuncula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com