Etymologically
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offensa

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔfˈfẽː.sa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ofˈfɛn.sa][1]

Forms

offēnsa f (genitive offēnsae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from the past participle of offendō “to strike against”, formed like repulsa from ⟨repellō⟩.[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Cicero, of an affront.[2] Köbler's first source is Propertius; he dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant striking against an obstacle, a collision, as in Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder's nūllā dentium offēnsā “with no resistance to the teeth”, and in Celsus an attack of pain.[2][6] In Columella it meant injury, harm.[2] In Cicero it meant an affront to someone's feelings, in Seneca a wrong done to a person, in Juvenal a transgression, and in Petronius resentment.[2]

Medieval Latin used it for an offence, trespass, and sin.[7] It survives in Italian offesa and Spanish ofensa, and with Old French offense it lies behind English offense, recorded in the late 14th century, “hurt, harm; breach of the law”.[1][8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an affront.[2][5]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it.[5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a collision.[2][5]
  • late 14th century – English offense is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A collision, knock.[2]
  2. An attack of pain.[2]
  3. Injury, harm.[2]
  4. A wrong; a transgression, offense.[2]
  5. An affront; resentment.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A sin.[7]

References

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