taxatio

Forms

taxātiō f (genitive taxātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin taxō (“to assess, value”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Cicero, in a speech on a claim for damages: eius reī taxātiōnem nōs fēcimus; aestimātiō vestra est, “we have made the assessment of that matter; the valuation is yours”.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Seneca and Pliny the Elder use it of valuation in general: Pliny speaks of pearls of the highest value and of something beyond all valuation.^[2][4][6] In law it was an assessed value set as a limit, the maximum sum that could be awarded in a suit, as the elder Seneca, Festus, Gaius and the Digest show,^[2][5] and also a defining or limiting clause in a will or contract.^[4][6]

Tertullian uses it for reproach or censure,^[5] and Niermeyer gives the medieval senses criticism, a pledge, and an assessment.^[7] In British sources it is a valuation for rent or sale (Bede already has it in a homily), the fixing of something, and a tax, levy, rent or fine.^[8] Italian tassazione comes from it.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an assessment of damages.^[2][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of valuation.^[2][3]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of a limit set to a sum.^[2][3]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for censure.^[5][3]
• 1231 – A document concerning Oxford uses it of the valuation of lodgings to be let.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Valuation, assessment, appraisal.^[2][4][5]
2. (law) An assessed value set as a limit; a maximum sum or figure.^[2][5]
3. (law) A defining or limiting clause in a will or contract.^[4][6]
4. (Late Latin) Censure, reproach.^[5][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A tax, levy; a rent; a fine.^[8][7]

References

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