peccatum

Forms

peccātum n (genitive peccātī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter past participle of peccō (“to err, do wrong”) used as a noun.^[2][3][1] The origin of the verb is uncertain: Walde–Hofmann and Ernout–Meillet proposed ⟨*ped-ko-⟩, “stumbling with the foot”, which de Vaan finds unconvincing, and Leumann a ⟨*pet-ko-⟩, “a fall”, from the root of falling, better in meaning but odd in form.^[4] De Vaan also mentions Umbrian pesetom, an act that spoils a rite.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Amphitruo: ōrant ignōscāmus peccātum suom, “they beg us to forgive their offence”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is an error or mistake, as Varro's two kinds of error in declension, and a moral fault or lapse, Terence speaks of bearing punishment for one's faults.^[2][3] In Christian Latin it is sin, its usual sense in the Church and the Middle Ages.^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of an offence to be forgiven.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of faults punished.^[3][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of grammatical errors.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An error, mistake.^[2][1]
2. A fault, offence, transgression.^[2][1][3]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Sin.^[6][7]

Related words

• peccō
• dēlictum

Usage notes

Döderlein counts dēlictum and peccātum as lighter offences: dēlictum a breach of positive law from carelessness, peccātum rather an offence against nature and reason from want of judgement.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper