sequentia

Forms

sequentia f (genitive sequentiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sequēns (“following”),^[1][2] the present participle of sequor (“to follow”).^[3][4] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *sekʷ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-e/o- (“to follow, accompany”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is Late Latin.^[6] Boethius uses it in his arithmetic for a succession or order.^[3][2][7][8] The Bobbio scholia on Cicero have it for what follows, a consequence.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval liturgy it became the name of the sequence, a chant in rhythmic prose or verse sung after the Alleluia and before the Gospel, also called a prose.^[9][10][11] A 9th-century gloss on Martianus Capella describes it as an expanded form of the Alleluia jubilus.^[12] Du Cange quotes the Roman Ordo and Alcuin, “then follows the jubilation, which they call a sequence” (sequitur iūbilātiō, quam sequentiam vocant), and Durandus, who explains the name by its following the jubilus and says Notker, abbot of Saint Gall, first composed sequences.^[13] In Britain it also named the book holding them.^[9] The humanist Jakob Wimpfeling wrote in 1499 that sequences have no metre and are therefore also called proses.^[14]

English took it over in church music in the late 14th century, through Old French and directly from Medieval Latin.^[4] Conte gives it as the Late Latin source of Italian sequenza.^[6]

Timeline

• first quarter of the 6th century AD – Boethius uses it for a succession.^[3][2][8]
• 9th century – A gloss on Martianus Capella uses it of the liturgical sequence.^[12]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as sequence, in church music.^[4]
• 1499 – Jakob Wimpfeling explains why sequences are also called proses.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. That which follows; a succession, series, order.^[3][2][7]
2. What follows from something, a consequence.^[6]
3. (Medieval Latin, liturgy) A sequence, a chant in rhythmic prose or verse sung after the Alleluia and before the Gospel; a prose.^{[9][10][11][14]}
4. (Medieval Latin) A book of sequences, a sequentiary.^[9]

Related words

• sequēns
• cōnsequentia
• English sequence

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
12. ^ a b Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
13. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
14. ^ a b c Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de