suspendium

Forms

suspendium n (genitive suspendiī or suspendī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin suspendō (“to hang up”) + -ium.^[2][1] That verb is a compound of sub- (“under”) and pendō (“to hang”),^[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *pend-e/o- (“to hang”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Plautus:^[4] the Aulularia has utinam me divi adaxint ad suspendium, “if only the gods would drive me to hang myself”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means hanging, usually of oneself: Cicero speaks of seeking a remedy for a wrong in death and the noose, and Suetonius and Pliny the Elder of ending one's life by hanging.^[5][7] Poets use the plural, as Ovid of a tree that served a wretch for hanging,^[5][6] and Ammianus pairs suspendia with proscriptions.^[5]

Tertullian uses it of suspense or delay, and Augustine of the suspension of judgment.^[6][8] Medieval meanings include delay, imprisonment and the right to hang criminals.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of hanging oneself.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the Verrines.^[5][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses the plural.^[5][4]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of suspense.^[6][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of the suspension of judgment.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Hanging, especially of oneself.^[2][5]
2. (Late Latin) suspense, delay; suspension of judgment.^[6][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) Imprisonment, prison.^[9]
4. (Medieval Latin) The right to hang criminals.^[9]

Word family

• suspendiōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill