secretio

Forms

sēcrētiō f (genitive sēcrētiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sēcernō (“to separate”) + -tiō.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC) uses it in the Tusculan Disputations, defining death as a kind of departure and separation of the parts that were held together before: quasi discessus et secretio ac diremptus earum partium.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is rare and means a separation into parts.^[2][3] Chalcidius uses it in his commentary on Plato's Timaeus.^[5] English secretion, from French, gave it the physiological sense of a substance separated out by a gland in the 1640s.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the separation of parts at death.^[3][4]
• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses it in his commentary on the Timaeus.^[5][4]
• 1640s – English secretion appears in animal physiology.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. separation, division into parts.^[2][3][5]

Related words

• English secretion

Usage notes

Du Cange records a medieval secretio meaning a fellowship or compact.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre