Etymologically
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poenalitas

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Forms

poenālitās f (genitive poenālitātis); third declension[1] Also spelled pēnālitās, penalitas and paenalitas.[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is a Medieval Latin formation,[2][4] from Latin poenālis + -tās,[3][5] from poena (“penalty, punishment”),[1] itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates its first record to about 1182, from the British material collected by Latham,[1] and the DMLBS quotes it in the sense of punishment.[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the punishment itself, it meant an offence deserving punishment and bodily suffering or hardship.[2] Thomas Aquinas uses it both for the penal character of something and as a synonym of poena.[7] Du Cange records it as a fine, as anxiety of mind (in a letter of Louis II, king of Jerusalem and Sicily, of 1402) and as punishment.[8] In Polish Medieval Latin it also meant toil, suffering and mortification.[3] It passed into Italian penalità,[4] and into English as penalty, partly through French.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1182 – First recorded in British Medieval Latin.[1][2]
  • 1265–1273 – Thomas Aquinas uses it of the penal character of an act and of punishment.[7][1]
  • 1387 – A Polish document uses it for punishment.[3]
  • 1402 – A letter of Louis II, king of Jerusalem and Sicily, uses it for distress of mind.[8]
  • 1432 – A sermon quoted by Ramminger speaks of the poenalitas of the present life.[9]
  • c. 1500 – English penalty is first recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) Penalty, punishment.[2][1][8]
  2. (Medieval Latin) An offence that deserves punishment; liability to punishment.[2][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Bodily suffering, pain; hardship.[2][3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Distress of mind.[8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A fine.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
  3. ^ a b c d e Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  4. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
  8. ^ a b c d e du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  9. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de