Etymologically
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organizatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔr.ɡa.nɪzˈzaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [or.ɡa.nidˈd͡zat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

organizātiō f (genitive organizātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin organizō (“to organize”) + -tiō, a Medieval Latin noun of action.[1][2][3] Its base goes back to organum (“instrument, organ”), borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates its first record, from Latham's word list of British Medieval Latin, to before 1250.[2] In the early British examples the DMLBS gives, it is a term of medicine and natural philosophy: the furnishing of a body with its organs and limbs, its physical structure.[4]

Semantic evolution

The DMLBS also records the sense “assignment of functions to the different organs of a living body”.[4] Polish philosophical texts of the early 15th century use it in the same way, of providing the body with organs.[5] English took the word in the early 15th century, first for the structure of the body or its parts.[3]

In Medieval and New Latin it came to mean the arrangement of parts in general, and in New Latin a body of people joined for a common purpose.[1] Stelten's dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin glosses it simply as “organization”.[6]

Timeline

  • before 1250 – First recorded in British Medieval Latin, according to Köbler.[2]
  • early 15th century – A Polish philosophical text uses it of the forming of the body with its organs.[5]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as organisacioun “structure of the body”.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) The physical structure of a living body; its being furnished with organs and limbs.[4][5]
  2. (Medieval Latin) The assignment of functions to the different organs of a living body.[4]
  3. (Medieval Latin, New Latin) arrangement, the ordering of parts.[1]
  4. (New Latin) An organization, a body of people united for a common aim.[1]

Usage notes

Organisātiō is a variant spelling.[1][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d 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
  5. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson