Etymologically
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propositio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proː.pɔˈsɪ.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pro.poˈs̬it.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

prōpositiō f (genitive prōpositiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōpōnō (“to set forth, put forward”) + -tiō, an action noun.[2][3][1][4]

It is the source, through Old French proposicion, of English proposition.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is the Rhetorica ad Herennium,[5] which uses it for the setting out of something in words, in its definition of an example as the citing of something done or said in the past.[2] The TLL notes that the word belongs to prose only and is often a technical term from that work on.[3]

Semantic evolution

In rhetoric and logic it named the statement of what a speaker was going to prove and the major premise of a syllogism, a use the Rhetorica ad Herennium already has.[2][6] Cicero uses it for a conception of the mind, defining magnificence as the planning of great things with a broad and splendid conception, and for the statement of the substance of a case;[2][6] Varro has it for a notion or image.[2] The jurists use it for the posting up of an edict (Ulpian) and for a case put up for discussion (Africanus).[2]

In the Bible the pānēs prōpositiōnis of Exodus 25:30 are the bread of arrangement, and medieval writers carried the phrase over to the host.[7] Ecclesiastical Latin also uses it for a proposal, a text or a statement.[8] English borrowed it in the 14th century, first for a riddle and then for a topic set out for discussion.[4]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it for a statement and for the major premise of an argument.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a conception of the mind and of the statement of a case.[2][6][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the statement of a proposition.[2][5]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of the posting up of an edict.[2][5]
  • mid-14th century – English proposition appears, first meaning a riddle.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of posting up (a notice, an edict).[2]
  2. A picturing in the mind, conception; a notion, image.[2][6]
  3. A statement, a setting out in words;[2][6] (rhetoric) the statement of the substance of a case.[2][6]
  4. (rhetoric, logic) A proposition to be proved; the major premise of a syllogism; a case proposed for discussion.[2][6]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) pānēs prōpositiōnis, the bread of arrangement (Exodus 25:30).[7]
  6. (Medieval Latin) The host (eucharistic bread).[7]
  7. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A proposal; a text.[8]

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 o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson