sedatio

Forms

sēdātiō f (genitive sēdātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sēdō + -tiō.^[2][1] De Vaan explains sēdō as originally “make someone sit down, appease”, beside sedeō “to sit”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it for the calming of the passions: in the Tusculan Disputations the daily slaughter in Homer is said to bring a sedatio maerendi, an easing of grief.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero it is the allaying of emotions and disturbances of the mind.^[2][4] Inscriptions use it of the soothing of inflammation.^[2] English took it as sedation, first for the relief of pain.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the sedatio of grief and of disturbances of the mind.^[2][4][6]
• early 15th century – English borrows it for the relief of pain.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An allaying, assuagement of inflammation.^[2]
2. A calming of emotions or passions.^[2][4]

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. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de