stipulatio

Forms

stipulātiō f (genitive stipulātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin stipulor (“to exact a formal promise”) + -tiō.^[2][1] The OLD takes that verb apparently from stipula (“straw”), perhaps after a symbolic breaking of straws.^[2] De Vaan agrees that the verb comes from the word for straw and first meant “to draw or cut straws”; since Umbrian stiplatu has the legal sense already, the shift must be old.^[3] He sets the straw word beside stips (“small coin, alms”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *stip- (“stalk”).^[3]

Ancient writers gave both explanations: Isidore says that people making a promise broke a straw and later joined the pieces to recognise it,^[4] while Varro connects the verb with the word for coins.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a term of Roman law found from Varro and Cicero on.^[6][7] Cicero uses it in the De oratore beside pacta and conventa, agreements and covenants.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Roman law it was the formal oral contract: one party asked a set question (spondēsne?, “do you promise?”) and the other bound himself by answering (spondeō).^[2][8] It named both the demand and the contract so made,^[2] and the jurists define it as words by which the person asked answers that he will give or do what he was asked.^[7] The term runs through Gaius, the Digest and Justinian's Institutes.^[7] The Pompeian tablets have a stipulātiō argentāria between the holder of an auction and the auctioneer.^[8]

Medieval charters repeated the Roman formula without a clear sense, or used the word for the validation of a document by signing or touching it.^[9] British sources use it for a solemn promise or covenant,^[10] and since 1420 also for thatching, a new sense taken from stipula “straw”.^[10][6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses the word.^[6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero names stipulations among legal matters.^[7][6]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius treats it in his Institutes.^[7][6]
• c. 1159 – John of Salisbury uses it of a solemn promise.^[10]
• 1420 – Churchwardens' accounts in Bath use it for thatching.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) A formal stipulation: the demand for a promise by a set question, or the contract made by the answer; an engagement, covenant.^[2][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) The validation of a document by signing or touching it.^[9]
3. (Medieval Latin) A solemn promise or vow.^[10]
4. (Medieval Latin) Thatching.^[10]

Word family

• stipulātiuncula

Usage notes

English stipulate (1620s) is a back-formation from stipulation or comes from the participle of stipulor.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
5. ^ Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f 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
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com