promulgatio

Forms

prōmulgātiō f (genitive prōmulgātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōmulgō (“to make publicly known”) + -tiō, a noun of action.^[2][1][3] De Vaan takes prōmulgō as a factitive verb to mulgeō (“to milk”), “to milk forth” and so “to make known”; he traces that verb to Proto-Indo-European *h2mlǵ-eie- (“to milk”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it in prose only in Cicero and Caelius, then from Tertullian on.^[3] Cicero uses it in the Philippics of laws passed without being publicly announced beforehand.^[5][3][6]

Semantic evolution

It was the technical term for the public announcement of a proposed law before the vote.^[2][3] Cicero asks what has become of the prōmulgātiō trīnum nundinum, the announcement over three market days.^[3][7] He also uses it of a sudden proposal by Cato, and Caelius, writing to Cicero, of a proposal about a dictator.^[3] From Tertullian on it is used more widely of making something known.^[3] In medieval Latin it is any official proclamation or publication,^[8] and in canon law, as Stelten notes, it is the stage at which the lawmaker communicates a law to those it binds.^[9] English promulgation came from it through French.^[10]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the announcement of laws.^[3][6]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it in a wider sense.^[3][6]
• 725 – A charter uses it of the proclamations of archbishops.^[8]
• c. 1600 – English promulgation is recorded, from French.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The official public announcement of a proposed law, promulgation.^[2][5]
2. (Late Latin) A making known, publication.^[3][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) An official proclamation.^[8]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The promulgation of a law in canon law.^[9]

Related words

• prōmulgō
• mulgeō

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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com