statutum

Forms

statūtum n (genitive statūtī); second declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin statuō (“to set up, fix, decide”), the neuter of its perfect passive participle ⟨statūtus⟩ used as a noun.^[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's only quotation is from the jurist Ulpian, who writes that imperial statutes must be valid everywhere.^[1][5] Lewis and Short call the noun Late Latin and cite Lactantius, who speaks of the decree of God and of the laws and decrees of the Fates.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

As a participle the neuter was used long before: ⟨statūtō tempore⟩, “at the appointed time”, in Curtius, and impersonal ⟨statūtum est⟩, “it was decided”, in Tacitus.^[3] The glossaries render the noun by Greek ὡρισμένον (hōrisménon), “what is fixed”, and one explains it as what must necessarily be done.^[6] Conte also records it for the legal age of majority in the Digest and for the crisis of an illness in Oribasius.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it was the general word for a decree or statute, whether of God, of the Church, of a monastery or of a secular ruler:^[8][9][10] Bede writes of the decrees of the law of Moses and of the fathers' canons, and Aldhelm of apostolic statutes.^[9] Niermeyer also gives a fine laid down by statute.^[8] Du Cange records statūtum locāle, a local custom, from a Silesian charter of 1336, and civil statutes of Hanover in 1293.^[11] English statute came from it through Old French statut about 1300, first “a law of the land, a ruler's decree”.^[4]

Timeline

• before 223 AD – Ulpian writes of imperial statutes.^[1][5]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of the decree of God.^[3][2][5]
• c. 325–c. 403 AD – Oribasius uses it of the crisis of an illness.^[7][5]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm writes of apostolic statutes.^[9][5]
• 1st third of the 8th century AD – Bede writes of monastic and canonical statutes.^[9][5]
• c. 1300 – English statute is recorded, from Old French.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ordinance, decree;^[1][3][2] (Late Latin) a decree of God.^[1][3][2]
2. (law) The age of majority.^[7]
3. (medicine) The crisis of an illness.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) A statute, law, resolution, command.^{[8][9][10][4]}
5. (Medieval Latin) A fine laid down by statute.^[8]

Related words

• status
• English statute

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre