promissio

Forms

prōmissiō f (genitive prōmissiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin prōmittō + -tiō, from the verb meaning “to promise”.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,^[3] meaning the act of promising, as when he writes of the promise of a province or of help.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short note that in Classical Latin it is used only in the singular, of the act of promising, as against prōmissum, the thing promised.^[4] Cicero also used it as a term of rhetoric, for an assurance that a proof will follow,^[2][4] and the jurists used it in law.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it could mean a monk's vows or a charter recording a promise,^[5] and in British sources a promise or assurance, and the thing promised.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a promise, and in rhetoric of an undertaking to prove a point.^[2][4][3]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it in a legal sense.^[2][3]
• 803 – It appears in the capitularies.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of promising; a promise.^[2][4]
2. (law) A binding undertaking, as in a contract.^[2]
3. (rhetoric) An undertaking that a contention will be proved.^[2][4]
4. (Medieval Latin) A monk's vows.^[5]
5. (Medieval Latin) A charter recording a promise.^[5]

Usage notes

The grammarian Donatus says that promissio and pollicitātiō mean the same, but that pollicitatio is the more emphatic.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften