Etymologically
Log in

plantatio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 00:46. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

plantātiō f (genitive plantātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin plantō (“to plant”) + -tiō.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Pliny the Elder,[4] for the propagation of plants from cuttings or by transplanting.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Augustine uses it for the planting of a vineyard and figuratively, of a “planting of bitterness”.[5][6] In the Vulgate it means the thing planted, a plant set out or, in the plural, plantings,[3][5] and Christian writers used it of an offshoot and so of descendants.[6]

Medieval Latin kept the senses of planting and plant, also in figures of speech,[7] and Du Cange records it for the building of a church in a charter from Brandenburg.[8] English plantation was borrowed from it in the mid-15th century, first for the action of planting.[9]

Timeline

  • AD 23/24–79 – Pliny the Elder uses it for propagating plants.[2][3][4]
  • AD 354–430 – Augustine uses it for planting a vineyard.[5][6][4]
  • AD 390–406 – The Vulgate uses it for a plant or plantings.[3][5][4]
  • mid-15th century – English borrows it as plantation.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Propagation from cuttings; planting, transplanting.[2][3]
  2. (Late Latin) A plant set out;[3][5][6] (plural) plantings.[3][5][6]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin, figurative) An offshoot; descendants.[6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The building or founding (of a church).[8]

Usage notes

A second Du Cange article records it in a charter about vineyards planted on condition that the costs are shared.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com