Etymologically
Log in

obiurgatio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 06:15. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

obiūrgātiō f (genitive obiūrgātiōnis); third declension[1] It is also spelled objūrgātiō.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin obiūrgō (“to reprove, rebuke”) + -tiō.[3][1][4] obiūrgō is a compound of ob- and iūrgō (“to quarrel”); de Vaan thinks iūrgō and iūrgium are based on a noun meaning roughly "bringing the oath", made from iūs (“law, oath”) and the root of agō (“to drive”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it first,[6] as in the Laelius, where a rebuke should be free of insult.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a reproof or rebuke.[3][2] Cicero distinguishes it from admonition, which he calls a milder rebuke, and says that sometimes rebukes are necessary in which one must use a louder voice and harsher words;[2] he also pairs it with castīgātiō.[2] Festus, in Paulus' epitome, separates it from monitiō: the rebuke comes after a shameful act, the warning before it.[2] Quintilian uses it of self-reproach, and Seneca opposes rebukes to praise.[2] Stelten gives "blaming, reproving, rebuke" for Church Latin.[7] The English objurgation appears about 1500.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of rebukes.[2][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca opposes rebukes to praise.[2]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of self-reproach.[2]
  • c. 1500 – objurgation appears in English.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A chiding, reproof, rebuke, reprimand.[3][2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson