recollectio

Forms

recollēctiō f (genitive recollēctiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin recolligō (“to gather again”), a noun of Medieval Latin formed on its past participle ⟨recollēctus⟩ with the suffix -tiō.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest quotation in the DMLBS, from 1282, uses it for the collection of a tithe.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In British records it was used for collecting produce, tithes and the fruits of a church living.^[2] In devotional writing it came to mean the gathering of one's thoughts, concentration, as opposed to distraction of the heart,^[2] and Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for recalling and recollection.^[4] English recollection first meant “a gathering together again”, and it has meant from the 1680s the act of recalling to memory.^[3]

Timeline

• 1282 – It is used for the collection of a tithe.^[2]
• 1305 – It is used for gathering the fruits of a rectory.^[2]
• 1308 – Köbler dates Latham's record of it to this year.^[1]
• 1590s – English borrows it, from French or directly, as recollection.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) Collection, gathering, of produce or tithes.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Concentration of thought; recollection.^[2][4]

Related words

• recolligō
• English recollection

References

1. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson