Etymologically
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proscriptio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proːsˈkriːp.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [prosˈkrip.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

prōscrīptiō f (genitive prōscrīptiōnis); third declension[1] Old manuscripts sometimes spell it -scribt-.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōscrībō (“to publish, proscribe”) + -tiō.[3][1][2] ⟨prōscrībō⟩ is from scrībō (“to write”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *skreif-e/o- (“to carve”) and Proto-Indo-European *skreibʰ-e/o- (“to carve”), cognate with Oscan scriftas (“written”) and Umbrian screhto (“written”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[5] who uses it of the public notice of a sale of goods.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

It is first a written notice announcing a sale, as of property.[3][6] Cicero also uses it of the publication of the names of citizens declared outlaws, whose goods were confiscated, above all the proscription of Sulla, “that most bitter proscription”.[3] Isidore explains it as exile far away, as if porrō scrīptiō, “writing far off”.[2]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of notices of sale and of Sulla's proscription.[3][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains it as distant exile.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A public notice of sale, an advertisement.[3][6][1]
  2. The publishing of the names of outlaws whose property was confiscated, proscription.[3][1]

References

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