provocatio

Forms

prōvocātiō f (genitive prōvocātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōvocō (“to call out, challenge, appeal”) + -tiō, a noun of action.^[2][1][3] The verb is formed from prō- and vocō (“to call”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in the law on extortion, the lex repetundarum,^[3] which deals with granting the right of appeal.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Roman public law it was the appeal of a citizen to the people against the coercive power of a magistrate, and also the right to make such an appeal: Cicero reports a law that no magistrate should put a Roman citizen to death adversus prōvocātiōnem, in defiance of an appeal.^[2][4] Under the empire it was an appeal to a higher authority.^[2] Ulpian apparently uses it for a summons to appear in court.^[2]

From the time of Livy and Velleius it was also a challenge to single combat, as in the phrase ex prōvocātiōne, “on a challenge”.^[2][5][6] In the Vulgate it means a stimulus or encouragement: the Letter to the Hebrews urges believers in prōvocātiōnem cāritātis, to stir one another to love.^[5][7] British medieval writers use it for the bringing about of something, especially of God's anger or vengeance.^[8] English took it about 1400 as provocation, at first meaning incitement.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the citizen's appeal against a magistrate.^[2][10]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has a speaker claim to have fought twenty-three times ex prōvocātiōne, on a challenge.^[2][10]
• c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius uses the same phrase of killing an enemy in single combat.^[5][10]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian seems to use it for a summons to court.^[2][10]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for an encouragement to love.^[5][10]
• c. 1400 – English borrows it as provocation, partly through Old French.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A challenge to single combat.^[2][5]
2. (law) Apparently, a summons to appear in court.^[2]
3. (law) An appeal to the people by a citizen against a magistrate's coercion; under the empire, an appeal to a higher authority.^[2][4]
4. (law) The right of such an appeal.^[2]
5. (Late Latin) A stimulus, encouragement, provocation.^[5][7]
6. (Medieval Latin) The bringing about of something, especially of anger or vengeance.^[8]

Related words

• English provocation

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ 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 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de