Etymologically
Log in

placitum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 08:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

placitum n (genitive placitī); second declension[1]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the neuter participle from Latin placitus (“pleasing, agreed”), from placeō (“to please”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces placeō to Proto-Italic *plak-ē- and a root Proto-Indo-European *pl(e)h₂k- (“to agree, be pleasant”), whose only certain relatives are in Tocharian.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Virgil.[5] The OLD's examples of the noun start with Seneca, who speaks of “our tenets”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Literally it is what pleases or is agreed on.[3] In the classical period it is a tenet or opinion: Columella has the opinions of the old authors, Pliny the Elder those of the Babylonians on earthquakes, and Tacitus the teachings of the philosophers.[2] In law it is an agreed condition: Ulpian defines a pact as the consent of two or more to the same placitum.[2] In Church Latin it is an agreement, resolution, decision or pledge.[6] In medieval Latin it became the agreed meeting and the assembly for judicial or legislative business, and so a court of law, as in the letters of Boniface and in Domesday Book.[7] Through Old French plait (“lawsuit, decision”) it gave English plea (early 13th century).[3]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil.[5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of philosophical tenets.[2][5]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian, of an agreed condition.[2][5]
  • 753 – Boniface, of an assembly.[7]
  • early 13th century – English plea, through Anglo-French and Old French.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tenet, opinion, teaching.[2][1]
  2. (law) An agreed condition, agreement;[2][7][6] a decision, decree.[1][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) An assembly for judicial business, a court, moot;[7] a lawsuit, plea.[3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ 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 c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ 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