suffusio

Forms

suffūsiō f (genitive suffūsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin suffundō (“to pour beneath, suffuse”) + -tiō.^[2][1] The verb is formed with sub- from fundō¹ (“to pour”),^[3] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰu-n-d- (“to pour”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Celsus has it first,^[5] in his work on medicine, for a cataract that blocks the eye's power of sight.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its general sense was the welling up of a fluid from within.^[2] Seneca and Pliny the Elder use it of bile spreading through the body, as in jaundice,^[2][6] and both also of the cataract of the eye.^[2] Later it could mean simply a pouring in or over, an infusion, as of wine in Apicius or of cucumber in Palladius;^[6] Stelten also gives “inflammation” for Ecclesiastical Latin.^[7]

English borrowed it in the late 14th century as a medical term for a cataract.^[3]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it for a cataract.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of bile spreading in the body.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of jaundice and of the eyes.^[2][5]
• 4th century AD – Apicius uses it of an infusion of wine.^[6][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as suffusioun, for a cataract.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The welling up or spreading of a fluid from within, as of bile in jaundice.^[2][6]
2. (medicine) A cataract in the eye.^[2][6]
3. A pouring in or over, an infusion.^[6][1]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Inflammation.^[7]

Related words

• suffundō
• English suffusion

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson