vindicatio

Forms

vindicātiō f (genitive vindicātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin vindicō (“to lay claim to; to avenge”) + -tiō.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Cicero's early work on rhetorical invention, where vindicatio is the impulse by which violence and insult are warded off from ourselves and those dear to us, by defending or avenging, and by which wrongs are punished.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In the language of law it was the claim to ownership of a thing and the action at law to recover it: a letter of the emperor Trajan among Pliny the Younger's, and the jurist Gaius, use it so,^[2] and the Digest has a title “De rei vindicatione”.^[5] Gaius also names a kind of legacy made per vindicationem.^[2] Georges adds the claim to a servitude or to a pledge.^[6]

Medieval Latin used it for the official recognition of a martyr,^[7] for vengeance and requital and for the act of claiming,^[8] and for the redemption of an estate (French retrait).^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero defines vindicatio as defending or avenging oneself and one's own.^[2][10]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it for the action claiming ownership and for a kind of legacy.^[2][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) The action or right of claiming ownership of a thing; the suit for its recovery.^[2][5]
2. The defence of a wronged person, or the avenging of a wrong.^[2][4]
3. Punishment.^[1]
4. (Medieval Latin) Official recognition of someone as a martyr.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) Vengeance, requital.^[8]
6. (Medieval Latin) Redemption of an estate.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b 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
9. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de