refugium

Forms

refugium n (genitive refugiī or refugī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin refugiō (“to flee back, escape”) + -ium.^[2][1][3] The verb is a compound of re- (“back”) and fugiō (“to flee”).^[1][4]

It lives on in Old French refui and Old Provençal refugi,^[5] and in Italian rifugio.^[6] Through Old French it is the source of English refuge.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[7] who calls the Senate portus et refugium, “the harbour and refuge”, of peoples and nations.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the act of taking refuge, a place to flee to, and a means of protection, mostly in writers after Augustus;^[8][2] Livy writes that the woods gave a safer refuge.^[8][6] Lewis & Short note that Cicero uses it only figuratively.^[8] By metonymy it is a person who protects others, as in an inscription praising a man as the refuge of the needy.^[2] In the law books and an inscription it seems to be a hidden chamber or a secret passage in a house.^[2][9] In Medieval Latin it was the emergency seat of a monastery or bishopric, a solace, and sanctuary or the right of sanctuary.^[10][7] In British sources it is also a person who gives protection.^[11]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero calls the Senate the refuge of nations.^[2][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy: silvae tūtius dedēre refugium, “the woods gave a safer refuge”.^[8][6][7]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian writes of making secret passages in a house.^[2][9][7]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English, through Old French, as refuge.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of taking refuge, flight to safety.^[8][12]
2. A place or means of shelter, a refuge.^[2][8]
3. (by metonymy) A protector.^[2][11]
4. A concealed chamber; a secret passage in a house.^[2][9]
5. (Medieval Latin) The emergency seat of a monastery or bishopric.^[10]
6. (Medieval Latin) solace, comfort.^[10][7]
7. (Medieval Latin) sanctuary, the right of sanctuary.^[10][7]

Related words

• perfugium
• suffugium
• asylum
• English refuge

Usage notes

A late list of synonyms ascribed to Cicero groups refugium with propugnāculum, subsidium and suffugium.^[5] In verse the first syllable is sometimes long.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
10. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.