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seiungo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word seiungo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
96–55 BC, Lucretius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*(H)iunégti)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin iungo
French joindre
French rejoindre
Latin iniungo
Latin seiungo
Latin adiungo
Latin iunctura
Latin coniungo
Latin coniunctio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [seːˈjʊŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [seˈjuŋ.ɡo][1]

Forms

sēiungō (present infinitive sēiungere, perfect active sēiūnxī, supine sēiūnctum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled sējungō.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin sē- (“apart”) + iungō (“to join”).[3][1] De Vaan traces iungō to Proto-Italic *jung-e/o- and the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *(H)iunégti (“to yoke”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek ζεύγνυμι (zeúgnumi, “to yoke”), Lithuanian jùngti (“to tie, join, yoke”) and Hittite iuk- (“yoke”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius,[4] who has things “be separated and set apart”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to separate, part or isolate, as Cicero writes that a clause may either be joined to a decree of the senate or separated from it and written out by itself.[3][2] It also means to exclude or dissociate, as Cicero's son writes that jesting is not excluded from study and daily discussion.[3] A further sense is to separate mentally, distinguish: Cicero speaks of a wisdom in doing and speaking that cannot be separated.[3] Lewis & Short compare abiungō and disiungō.[2] Church Latin glosses it to disjoin, sever, separate.[5]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of things separated.[2][4][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of separating a clause and of inseparable wisdom.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To separate, part, sever, isolate.[3][2][5][1]
  2. To exclude, dissociate from.[3][1]
  3. To separate mentally, distinguish.[3]

Word family

  • sēiūnctim
  • sēiunctiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Seiungo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/seiungo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·