rebellio

Forms

rebelliō f (genitive rebelliōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin rebellō (“to renew a war, revolt”) + -iō,^[2][3][1] itself from re- (“again”) and bellō (“to wage war”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Cicero and Caesar on;^[3] Cicero speaks of the many revolts of the Carthaginians in the speech for Scaurus, and Caesar uses rebellio facta of a rising after a surrender.^[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Its proper sense was the renewal of war by a defeated people against the victor,^[5][3] and it is frequent in Livy and Tacitus, and later in the Historia Augusta.^[3] The OLD defines it simply as a rising or revolt.^[2] L&S count it as good prose, beside the near-synonyms dēfectiō and sēditiō.^[5] Wiktionary also gives the sense “usurpation, overthrow”.^[1]

In Medieval Latin it could mean contradiction or protest,^[7] and British writers used it for revolt and armed resistance, and for civil discord.^[8] English took rebellion from Old French and directly from Latin in the 14th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the revolts of the Carthaginians.^[3][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses rebellio facta of a rising after surrender.^[5][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it often.^[3][4]
• 716–786 – A letter of Boniface speaks of the revolts of the Saracens.^[8][4]
• late 14th century – English rebellion.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A renewal of war by a conquered people; a revolt, rebellion, insurrection.^[2][5]
2. Usurpation, overthrow.^[1]
3. (Medieval Latin) Contradiction, protest.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Civil discord.^[8]

Related words

• rebellātiō
• rebellātrīx
• rebellis
• rebellium
• rebellō
• English rebellion

Usage notes

Late Latin also had a masculine rebelliō “a rebel, one who renews the war”, in the Historia Augusta and in the Rule of Benedict,^[5][6] which Niermeyer lists as a separate medieval word for a rebel or insurgent.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c 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