sortitio

Forms

sortītiō f (genitive sortītiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sortior (“to draw lots”) + -tiō.^[2][1] sortior is made from sors (“lot”),^[3] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *sorti- and Proto-Indo-European *sr-ti- (“joining, joint”), from the root of serō² (“to join”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found once in Plautus, in the Casina: deos quaeso, mihi ut sortitio eveniat, “I pray the gods the drawing of lots goes my way”.^[5] De Vaan dates it from Varro, and Köbler from Cicero.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It is the drawing of lots or a method of it, and the sharing out of something by lot.^[2][5] Cicero speaks of the drawing of lots while the lots are being made equal, and of the allotment held among aediles.^[5] Quintilian's declamations speak of other judges and another chance of the lot.^[2] Apuleius uses it of a task given to someone by lot: such matters are not for the gods above but the business of the intermediate divinities.^[2] Church Latin has simply “lot”.^[6] English sortition comes from it, first in the 1590s.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a drawing of lots in the Casina.^[5][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro has the noun.^[4][5][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the allotment of offices.^[5][3]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius, of an allotted function.^[2][3]
• 1590s – Borrowed into English as sortition.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drawing or casting of lots, a lottery; distribution by lot.^[2][5][1][6]
2. A task or function allotted to someone.^[2]

Related words

• sors
• sortior
• sortītus
• English sortition

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c 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 c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com