recessio

Forms

recessiō f (genitive recessiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin recēdō (“to go back, withdraw”) + -tiō, a noun of action.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Vitruvius, where it describes the withdrawals of the winds, which he says produce changes.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare in Classical Latin, meaning a going back or withdrawal.^[2][6] In Christian writers it is used of persons, in Jerome's commentary on Matthew among others,^[3] and in an Old Latin version of Matthew it renders the act of putting away a wife, a divorce.^[7]

British Medieval Latin used it for a departure or retirement, for the abating of a fever, and for a backward movement, as opposed to accessio, also of the passing of time.^[8] Neo-Latin writers such as Poggio used it of a return journey.^[9] English borrowed it in the 1640s as recession, from French and directly from Latin.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses the plural of the withdrawing of winds.^[3][5]
• after 220 AD – An Old Latin version of Matthew uses it for divorce.^[7][5]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of a person going away.^[3][5]
• 1640s – Borrowed into English as recession.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A going back, withdrawal, recession.^[2][6][11]
2. (Late Latin) The putting away of a wife, divorce.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin) A departure or retirement; the abating of a fever.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) A backward movement, as opposed to accessio.^[8]
5. (New Latin) A return journey.^[9]

Related words

• English recession

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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
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 Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.