procinctus

Forms

prōcīnctus m (genitive prōcīnctūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prō- + cingō (“to gird”) + -tus, an action noun belonging to the verb prōcingō (“to gird up”).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in the phrase in prōcinctū, “girt for battle”, of a will made in the ranks just before going into battle, without the usual formalities.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word is found almost only in the accusative and ablative, mostly in the phrase in prōcinctū, “in readiness for battle”.^[4][2] The jurist Gaius explains this as the time when men took up arms for war, and calls the army so equipped a prōcinctus.^[2] Ovid calls his poems from exile songs written under arms, and Seneca and Quintilian transfer the phrase to anything kept ready for use: clemency, the mind, the orator's eloquence.^[2][6] Pliny the Elder also uses ad prōcinctum of men going into battle,^[6] and Apuleius uses it for a person's equipment or costume.^[2] Ammianus Marcellinus uses it for a military expedition and for an engagement.^[4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant preparation for departure.^[7] In medieval Latin it was used, also spelled porcinctus and procinta, for the outer zone around a religious house that fell within its immunity, the jurisdiction there, and the area round a town subject to the town's courts.^[8] In British sources it kept the sense of readiness, often figurative, as in William of Malmesbury.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a will made in prōcinctū.^[2][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid says his poems were written under arms.^[2][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian applies the phrase to the orator's readiness.^[2][5]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a priest's costume.^[2][5]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it for a military expedition.^[4][5]
• 814–840 – It appears in capitularies.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The state of being equipped for battle, readiness for action; chiefly in prōcinctū, “under arms, on active service”.^[2][10]
2. (figurative) Readiness: in prōcinctū habēre, to keep at hand, ready for use.^[2][4]
3. One's equipment or costume.^[2]
4. (Late Latin) A military expedition; an engagement.^[4]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Preparation for departure.^[7]
6. (Medieval Latin) The outer zone around a religious house, included in its immunity; the jurisdiction there; the area round a town under the town's jurisdiction.^[8]

Word family

• procinctualis

Usage notes

The OLD and Gaffiot also record an adjective prōcinctus, the participle of prōcingō, used of an army ready for action, which Gellius has.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press