transgressus

Forms

trānsgressus m (genitive trānsgressūs); fourth declension, found mostly in the ablative singular^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin trānsgredior + -tus³, from trānsgredior (“to step across, cross”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sallust, in a fragment of his Histories that Gellius discusses, writes of someone trying to avoid battle during a crossing.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare and found mostly in the ablative singular.^[2] Tacitus uses it of the crossing of rivers, the Euphrates among them, and of a favourable omen for a crossing.^[2][3]

In medieval British Latin it could mean the passing of a point in time, such as the spring equinox in Bede, and also a transgression, offence or sin.^[5]

Timeline

• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of a crossing.^[2][3][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of the crossing of rivers.^[2][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A crossing, a passage to the other side, as of a river.^[1][2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) A passing beyond a point in time.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin) A transgression, an offence, a sin.^[5]

Usage notes

The same form is also the perfect participle of trānsgredior, “having crossed”.^[2][6]

References

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