prensio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈprẽː.si.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈprɛn.si.o]^[1]

Forms

prēnsiō f (genitive prēnsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a contracted form of prehēnsiō, from prehendō “to seize”, contracted prēndō, with -tiō.^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨prehendō⟩ to Proto-Italic ⟨*(prai-)χend-⟩ “to seize”, Proto-Indo-European *gʰ-n(e)-d- (“to grab”), cognate with Ancient Greek χανδάνω (khandánō, “to hold, grasp”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Varro, and Lewis & Short cite the tribunes' right of prēnsiō.^[4][5] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a seizing, grasping, and especially the right or power to arrest, which by ancestral custom the tribunes of the plebs had.^[2][5]

The TLL lists its Romance descendants, such as French prison and Old Provençal preizon, and Old French prisun “prison” comes from it, and so English prison (late Old English).^[6][4][7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[4]
• late Old English – English prison is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A seizing; the right of arrest.^[2][5]

Related words

• prehēnsiō
• prehendō
• prēndō
• English prison

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com