remuneratio

Forms

remūnerātiō f (genitive remūnerātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin remūneror (“to repay, reward”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] The verb is built on mūnus (“duty, gift”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *moini- and *moi-nos- (“duty, obligation, task”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero (81–43 BC), meaning a repaying: in De inventione gratitude lies in remembering and repaying services, honours and friendship.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is the act of making a return for something received, usually with a genitive of what is repaid, such as goodwill or services;^[2][3] Apuleius also has it.^[2] The glossaries give the Greek ἀντίδωρον (antídōron, “return gift”) and the synonyms retributio and recompensatio.^[3] An inscription names an official in charge of the “sacred remunerations”.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means reward or payment,^[7] and medieval writers in Britain used it for a reward or recompense and for a payment or gift in return.^[8] English remuneration (c. 1400) comes from Old French and directly from the Latin word.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of repaying services and goodwill.^[2][5]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it.^[2][5]
• c. 1400 – English borrows it as remuneracioun.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A repayment, a return made for something received.^[2][6]
2. A reward, recompense, remuneration.^[6][7][8]

Related words

• English remuneration

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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com