traductio

Forms

trāductiō f (genitive trāductiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin trādūcō (“to lead across”) + -tiō,^[2][1][3] from trāns (“across”) and dūcō (“to lead”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, as a figure of speech: the change from one form of a word to another, as in its case endings.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Cicero used it of the passage of time, which unwinds like a rope, and of the transfer of Clodius from the patricians to the plebs.^[2][5] Hyginus has it of a place where things are conveyed across, and Seneca of exposing someone to public scorn.^[2][5] Ausonius used it of leading captives in a triumph.^[6][3]

In British Medieval Latin it was the conveying of goods and the spreading of a disease from one flock to another, the change of a thing into another form, and the bringing of a bride to her husband's house.^[7] The Italian humanists made it the word for a translation: Leonardo Bruni used it so in letters from 1403 on, and others soon followed.^[8][7] Italian traduzione continues it,^[5] though VOLI warns that the Classical word does not mean “translation”.^[3]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium names a figure of speech with it.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the passage of time.^[2][4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of public disgrace.^[2][4]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses it of captives led in triumph.^[6][4]
• 1389 – A Scottish roll uses it of carrying wool abroad.^[7]
• 1403/4 – Leonardo Bruni uses it of a translation of Plato.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The conveying of something from one place to another.^[2][7]
2. Exposure to public scorn, disgrace.^[2][5]
3. The passage (of time).^[2]
4. Transfer from one rank or condition to another.^[2][6]
5. (rhetoric) The change of a word from one form or sense to another, as with polyptoton.^[2][7]
6. The leading of captives in triumph.^[6]
7. (Medieval Latin) Transformation into another form.^[7]
8. (Medieval Latin) The bringing of a bride to her husband's house.^[7]
9. (New Latin) A translation.^[8][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de