substitutio

Forms

substitūtiō f (genitive substitūtiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin substituō (“to put in place of another”) + -tiō.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated use is in the jurist Gaius, whose Institutes (2.174 ff.) use it of the appointment of an alternative heir.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Roman law it was the appointment of a person as substitute heir, one who would inherit if the first heir did not;^[2][4] Gaius speaks of the vulgaris substitutio.^[2][4] The OLD notes that it apparently also covered an alternative tutor.^[2] The general sense of putting one thing or person in place of another is in the land surveyor Agennius Urbicus, Arnobius and Chalcidius.^[2][3][6]

In Christian and medieval Latin it kept both the general and the legal senses.^[7][8] English borrowed it in the late 14th century, through Old French or directly, at first for the appointment of a subordinate or successor.^[9]

Timeline

• 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of the appointment of a substitute heir.^[2][10]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it for putting something in place of another.^[4][3][10]
• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius has it in the general sense.^[3][10]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as substitution, “appointment of a subordinate or successor”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The putting of one thing or person in place of another, substitution.^[2][4]
2. (law) The appointment of a person as alternative heir; apparently also as an alternative tutor.^[2][4]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The appointing of an alternate.^[7]

Related words

• English substitution

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de