testamentum

Forms

testāmentum n (genitive testāmentī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin testor (“to call to witness, make a will”) + -mentum.^[2][1][3] De Vaan derives testor from testis (“witness”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *tri-sto- and Proto-Indo-European *trito-sth₂-o- (“standing by as a third”).^[4] The Christian sense comes from its use to render Ancient Greek διαθήκη (diathḗkē, “covenant; will”).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] and the OLD's first example is in Plautus' Asinaria.^[2] Köbler first records it in Cicero.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Testāmentum is a will, the last declaration of what one wants done after one's death, as Gellius defines it.^[2][3] Apuleius makes a joke of it, as if from testis “testicle”.^[2]

In Christian Latin it renders the Greek word for “covenant”, and so names the covenant of God, and the Old and New Testaments, Vetus and Novum Testāmentum, and the Bible.^[5][1] In medieval Latin it was also a deed of gift to take effect at death, any written deed, and a royal diploma.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][4][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[6]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius defines it.^[3][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius jokes on testis.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A will, testament.^[2][3][1][5]
2. (humorous) The testicles.^[2]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A covenant; the Old or New Testament; the Bible.^[5][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) A deed of gift at death; any written deed; a royal diploma.^[7]

Word family

• testamentārius

Related words

• testor
• testis
• intestātus
• testimōnium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill