Etymologically
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salutatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sa.ɫuːˈtaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [sa.luˈtat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

salūtātiō f (genitive salūtātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin salūtō (“to greet”) + -tiō.[2][3][1] The verb is made from salūs (“health, safety; greeting”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Cicero's speech against Piso, which asks who would think him worthy even of a common greeting.[2][3] Köbler dates it only from Tacitus.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is a greeting, a word Lewis & Short call rare but good prose:[3] Livy has salūtātiōnem facere, "to greet", and Tacitus salūtātiōnem reddere, "to return a greeting".[3][5] In particular it is the formal morning call a client paid on his patron, and later on the emperor;[2] Cicero mentions the crowd of the morning call, Seneca the morning calls, and Gellius people waiting for the emperor's reception.[2][5] Vitruvius uses it of the devotions passers-by make before temples.[3] It is rarely a written greeting, as in Cicero's play on salūs and in the Vulgate.[3] In medieval British sources it is also the greeting formula of a letter.[6] English borrowed it in the late 14th century as salutation.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a greeting and of the morning call.[2][3]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of devotions before temples.[3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a greeting.[3][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of returning a greeting.[3][4]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of the emperor's reception.[5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate of a written greeting.[3]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as salutation.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A greeting, salutation.[2][3][1][8]
  2. A formal morning call paid by a client on his patron, or on the emperor.[2][5][1]
  3. An act of devotion before a temple.[3]
  4. A written greeting.[3]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The greeting formula of a letter.[6]
  • salūtābundus
  • salūtātor
  • salūtātōrium
  • salūtātōrius
  • salūtātrix
  • salūtigerulus
  • salūtō
  • salūs
  • English salutation

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson