flagitium Latin · revision 18135

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la flāgitō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [fɫaːˈɡɪ.ti.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [flaˈd͡ʒit.t͡si.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''flāgitium''' ''n'' (genitive flāgitiī or flāgitī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|flāgitō|-ium|t1=to demand insistently]], apparently a noun “importunate demand” made from that verb.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan takes [[m|la|flāgitō]] as an iterative of an unattested verb ⟨*flāgere⟩ “to whip”, from [[itc-pro|*flāg-e/o-|t=to whip]], perhaps from [[ine-pro|*bʰl(e)h₂g-e/o-]]; the sense would have run from “to whip as a punishment” to “to scold, beset with demands”, and the family would then belong with [[m|la|flagrum|t=whip]].^(de Vaan 2008) He compares [[non|blaka|t=to hit back and forth]] and [[lt|blokšti|t=to swing back and forth]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who also has the verb.^(de Vaan 2008) In Plautus it seems to be a public demonstration of disapproval outside someone's house: ''flāgitium probrumque magnum … expergefacis'', “you are rousing a great scandal and outcry”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the noisy protest it came to mean the disgrace a person incurs, “dishonour, infamy” (Plautus: ''tantum damnī fēcī et flāgitī'', “I have caused so much loss and disgrace”), and a shocking state of affairs, “a scandal” (Terence).^(OLD 2012) As a term of abuse ''flāgitium hominis'' is “a disgraceful scoundrel”.^(OLD 2012) Most often it is a shameful act, an outrage, especially sexual misconduct or an offence against military discipline, and collectively outrageous conduct.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “shameful crime”.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin keeps the classical sense “disgrace, shame”, as in Aldhelm's ''flāgitium sceleris baptismī dīluit unda'', “the water of baptism washed away the disgrace of sin”.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a public outcry and of disgrace.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of sexual misconduct.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence: ''nōn est flāgitium … adulēscentulum scortārī'', “it is no scandal for a young man to visit prostitutes”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A public demonstration of disapproval (outside a person's house).^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|disgrace]], [[m|en|dishonour]], infamy.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(DMLBS)

+ # A [[m|en|scandal]], a shocking state of affairs;^(OLD 2012) ''flāgitium hominis'', an infamous scoundrel.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A shameful act, an [[m|en|outrage]], a crime;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) outrageous conduct.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flāgitiōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flāgitō]]

+ * [[flagrum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}