Etymologically
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peccatum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛkˈkaː.tũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pekˈkaː.tum][1]

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]

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