Etymologically
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suspectio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊsˈpɛk.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [susˈpɛk.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

suspectiō f (genitive suspectiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin suspiciō1 (“to look up at; to suspect”) + -tiō.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Apuleius' Metamorphoses and in the Strategemata of Frontinus it means suspicion.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is the suspecting of something evil, the same as suspīciō.[2][3] Caelius Aurelianus, Fulgentius and Hegesippus use it so, Hegesippus in the plural.[3] From the other sense of the verb, “to look up at”, Arnobius and Fulgentius use it for high esteem or veneration, a sense L&S calls very rare.[5][3][6]

Medieval Latin used it for suspicion, of a particular wrongdoing too, for the thing suspected, and in the phrase suspectiōnī habēre, “to suspect”.[7] It appears in the Lombard laws and the capitularies,[8] and Du Cange cites a saint's life in which it means hope.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for suspicion.[3][4][10]
  • 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it for high esteem.[5][3][10]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it for suspicion.[3][6][10]
  • c. 500 AD – Fulgentius uses it in both senses.[3][10]
  • 1251 – An English record of forest pleas reports a suspicion against a man wearing a mask.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Suspicion, the suspecting of something evil.[2][3][6]
  2. (Late Latin) High esteem, veneration, admiration.[5][3][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Something suspected;[7] suspectiōnī habēre, to suspect.[7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Hope.[9]

Usage notes

The usual word for suspicion is suspīciō, with which Georges equates it.[3] Du Cange notes that where the laws of Liutprand have suspectio, the Lombard law book reads suspicio.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d 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
  8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Liber exquisiti xenii: Lexikon frühmittelalterlicher Rechtswörter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de