Etymologically
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renovatio

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Forms

renovātiō f (genitive renovātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin renovō (“to renew”) + -tiō.[2][3][1] De Vaan lists renovō (from Accius on) among the derivatives of novus (“new”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *nowo- and Proto-Indo-European *neuo- (“new, young”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,[5] who speaks of the renewal of the world in De natura deorum and, in a letter to Atticus, of interest added to the principal each year, compound interest.[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical prose it is used by Cicero, Livy and Pliny the Elder, and above all by Christian writers; it has no plural.[3] Cicero speaks of a renewal of fear and of learning,[7][8] Livy of a renewal of the auspices,[7] and Pliny of animals renewing their shells.[7][8] The rhetorician Sulpicius Victor uses it for a summarising repetition, the Greek ἀνακεφαλαίωσις (anakephalaíōsis).[7] In the Vulgate it is the spiritual renewal of the Holy Spirit,[6] and Marius Mercator distinguishes it from innovātiō.[3] Medieval British Latin used it for the restoration of buildings and for spiritual renewal and salvation.[9] English renovation, first a theological word for spiritual rebirth, comes from it, partly through Old French renovacion.[10]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the renewal of the world and of compound interest.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy speaks of a renewal of the auspices.[7][5]
  • AD 23/24–79 – Pliny the Elder uses it of animals renewing their shells.[7][8][5]
  • AD 390–406 – The Vulgate uses it for spiritual renewal.[6][5]
  • c. 1400 – English renovation appears, first in theology.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of renewing, renewal.[2][6][7]
  2. (finance) The adding of interest to the principal, compound interest.[2][6]
  3. (rhetoric) A summarising repetition, recapitulation.[7]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Spiritual renewal, renovation.[6][11][9]
  5. (Medieval Latin) restoration or repair of a building.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson