sessus

Forms

sessus m (genitive sessūs); fourth declension^[1] Medieval sources also decline it in the third declension (genitive sessis).^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin sedeō (“to sit”) + -tus, an action noun.^[3][1][4] Classical Latin has it only once, in Apuleius, but it lives on in most Romance languages: Romanian șes, Catalan ses, Old French ses and Spanish sieso.^[1] A Vulgar Latin verb *sessicō gave Spanish sosegar.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Apuleius writes locum sessuī impertiunt, “they grant a place for sitting”.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin it named the place where one settles: the homestead at the centre of a holding, a small holding, or the site for a water-mill or a salt-boiler.^[2] Köbler records it in the polyptych of Saint-Remi at Reims (mid-9th century) and in a Freising charter of 855.^[4] British writers use it for a sitting posture and for a seat.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for the act of sitting.^[3][4]
• mid 9th century – The polyptych of Saint-Remi uses it.^[4]
• 855 – A Freising charter uses it.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of sitting down; a sitting.^[3][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) A sitting posture; a seat.^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin) A rural homestead, the centre of a holding; a small holding.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) The site of a water-mill or of a salt-boiler.^[2]

Related words

• sēdēs
• sessiō

Usage notes

Niermeyer also records an adjective sessus for a holding worked by a tenant.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b 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