summatio

Forms

summātiō f (genitive summātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a noun of action from Latin summō.^[2][3] In the sense “summons” Du Cange takes the verb from French sommer.^[2] In the sense “adding up”, Etymonline explains it as a Modern Latin noun from the Late Latin verb meaning “to sum up”, from summa (“sum”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Cange records it in the register of the Grands Jours of Troyes, meaning a summons or formal notice.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval legal Latin it meant a summons, a warning or formal notice, like French sommation;^[2][1] a 1546 charter printed by Rymer speaks of letters of summons or demand.^[2] In Modern Latin it was also a term of arithmetic, an adding up, from which English took summation in 1760.^[3]

Timeline

• 1546 – A charter speaks of litterae summationis, letters of summons.^[2]
• 1760 – English borrows the Modern Latin word as summation, the calculation of a sum.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, law) A summons, warning, formal notice.^[2][1]
2. (New Latin) An adding up, summation.^[3]

Related words

• summa
• English summation

References

1. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d e f g du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com