renuntiatio

Forms

renūntiātiō f (genitive renūntiātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin renūntiō (“to report, announce; to renounce”) + -tiō.^[2][1] That verb is a compound of re- and nūntiō (“to announce”), from nūntius (“messenger”).^[1][3] De Vaan thinks the noun probably goes back to ⟨*nountio-⟩ but calls its further etymology unclear: some derive it from a root Proto-Indo-European *newH- (“to cry”), others from novus (“new”), a reconstruction he finds morphologically senseless.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,^[4] who in the Verrine speeches uses it of an official report entered in the public records: cognoscite renuntiationem ex litteris publicis.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it a technical term of public life and law.^[5] Cicero also uses it of the official return of an election, the declaring of the candidates elected, and speaks of the renuntiatio suffragiorum;^[2][5] Pliny the Younger uses it in the same way.^[2][5] The jurists use it of a formal declaration of withdrawal: Gaius of breaking off a betrothal, Ulpian and Paul of leaving a partnership.^[2][5] In Cassian it is the renunciation of the world by monks, and so the monastic life itself.^[6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it is renunciation or resignation, and in a church trial the petitioner's declaration ending the process before sentence.^[7] Medieval writers in Britain use it of the reporting of sins in confession, of giving up a claim, right or office, and of renouncing the world.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of official reports and election returns.^[2][4]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of breaking off a betrothal.^[2][4]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of withdrawing from a partnership.^[2][4]
• c. 360–c. 435 AD – Cassian uses it of the monk's renunciation of the world.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An official report, announcement.^[2][5][9]
2. The official return of an election, the declaring of those elected.^[2][5]
3. (law) A declaration of withdrawal; notice given.^[2][5]
4. (Late Latin, Ecclesiastical Latin) Renunciation of the world, the monastic life; resignation.^[6][7][8]

Related words

• renūntiō
• nūntius
• abrenūntiātiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier