reformatio

Forms

refōrmātiō f (genitive refōrmātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin refōrmō + -tiō, a noun of action from the verb meaning “to reshape, transform”.^[2][1][3] The verb is formed from re- and fōrmō (“to shape”), from fōrma (“form, shape”);^[4][5] for ⟨fōrma⟩ de Vaan considers a dissimilated older ⟨*morma⟩ and a possible borrowing shared with Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”), and leaves the question open.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Seneca has it in the moral sense, the reform of character (reformatio morum) in his letters to Lucilius.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

It was a rare word in Classical Latin.^[6] Besides Seneca's moral reform, Apuleius used it in his Metamorphoses of a bodily change, a metamorphosis into an ass.^[2][6] The glossaries give it as an equivalent of Ancient Greek μεταμόρφωσις (metamórphōsis).^[3]

The TLL notes that after Seneca and Apuleius it occurs above all in Christian writers,^[3] and Augustine used it of renewal.^[8] In medieval Britain it was the amendment or reform of a church or monastery, a frequent term in visitations from the 13th century,^[9] and in Italy it also named a civic ordinance.^[10] English borrowed it in the late 14th century as reformation.^[4]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca speaks of the reform of character.^[2][7]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a transformation into an ass.^[2][7]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of renewal.^[8][7]
• 1223 – A Salisbury charter names reform among the duties of visitors.^[9]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as reformation.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A transformation, reshaping, of a bodily change.^[2][6]
2. Reform or improvement, as of character.^[2][6]
3. (Late Latin) Renewal.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) Amendment or reformation, as of a church or monastery.^[9][11]
5. (Medieval Latin) An ordinance on civic order.^[10]

Related words

• English reformation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson