syngrapha

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ˈsyŋ.ɡra.pʰa]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [ˈsiŋ.ɡra.fa]^[1]

Forms

syngrapha f (genitive syngraphae); first declension^[1] It is also spelled syngrafa.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek συγγραφή (sungraphḗ, “written contract”),^[2][3][1] from συγγράφω (sungráphō, “to write down”), made from σύν (sún, “together”) and γράφω (gráphō, “to write”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it first, in his letters and speeches.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a written contract signed by both parties, by which one promises to pay the other a stated sum, a bond or promissory note.^[2][5] Cicero uses it often: in his letters, in the speeches against Verres, in the speech for Murena of suing on a bond (ex syngraphā agere), and in the Philippics.^[5] Ammianus Marcellinus uses it too.^[5] In medieval Latin it also means a charter.^[6] Stelten gives "promissory note, bond" for Church Latin.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of bonds in his letters and speeches.^[5]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A written contract to pay a sum of money, a bond, promissory note.^[2][5][1][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A charter.^[6]

Related words

• chīrographum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson