transgressio

Forms

trānsgressiō f (genitive trānsgressiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin trānsgredior + -tiō, from the verb meaning “to step across”.^[2][3] The verb is formed with trāns- on gradior (“to step”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *grad-(e)i- and Proto-Indo-European *g(ʰ)rd(ʰ)-(e)i-.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC) uses it in the speech against Piso of the crossing of the Gauls, which Georges and Conte take as their crossing of the Alps.^[3][2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Besides a physical crossing, it meant a passing from one subject to another in a speech, as in Quintilian,^[2][3] and in rhetoric the transposition of words, the figure the Greeks called ὑπέρβατον: the Rhetorica ad Herennium defines it as the figure that upsets the order of words.^[2][7] L&S calls the word rare but Classical.^[7]

In Christian Latin it took the sense of breaking a law or commandment, a sin or offence,^[8][9] and this was its main medieval sense, applied in British sources to the breach of laws and agreements and to trespass.^[10] Italian trasgressione continues it.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the Gauls' crossing.^[2][6]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a transition from one subject to another.^[2][6]
• c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses it of a crossing of the sea.^[7][6]
• medieval – It means an infringement, offence or sin.^[9][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A going across, a crossing.^[2][7]
2. A transition from one subject to another.^[2][3]
3. (rhetoric) The transposition of words, hyperbaton.^[2][7]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A transgression, violation of a law; a sin.^[8][9]
5. (Medieval Latin) A breach of law or agreement; a trespass.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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
10. ^ 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