Etymology and origin of the Latin word segregatio
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 160–220 Tertullian, De anima More words from the 2nd century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin sēgregō
Etymology tree
From the same root
Forms
sēgregātiō f (genitive sēgregātiōnis); third declension[1][2]
Etymology
It is formed from Latin sēgregō + -tiō, from the verb meaning “to separate”.[1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tertullian is the first author cited for it, in the De anima, meaning a separation.[3][1]
Semantic evolution
It is a Late Latin word.[3][4] Chalcidius uses it in his commentary on Plato's Timaeus,[1] and an Old Latin version of Leviticus has it of the separation of a menstruating woman.[5] In medieval Latin it meant the separation of things from one another, such as the soul from the body in an English charter of about 1044, and the separation of something into parts.[4] Ecclesiastical Latin glosses it “separation, segregation”.[6]
Timeline
- c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it in the De anima.[3][1][7]
- c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses it in his commentary on the Timaeus.[1][7]
- c. 1044 – An English charter speaks of the separation of body and soul.[4]
Meanings
Noun
- A separation, parting.[3][1][2]
- (Medieval Latin) Separation into parts or groups.[4]
- (Ecclesiastical Latin) segregation.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d 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
- ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Borrowed into
- English segregation
Cite this entry
“Segregatio.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/segregatio. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.
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