delictum Latin · revision 31019

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *leykʷ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [deːˈlɪk.tũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [deˈlik.tum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēlictum''' ''n'' (genitive dēlictī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the neuter past participle of [[m|la|dēlinquō|t=to fall short, offend]], used as a noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) The verb is [[m|la|dē-]] and [[m|la|linquō|t=to leave]], which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*linkʷe/o-]] and the nasal present [[ine-pro|*li-n-kʷ-]] of [[m|ine-pro|*leykʷ-|t=to leave]]; it is cognate with [[grc|λείπω|tr=leípō|t=to leave]] and [[sa|रिणक्ति|tr=riṇákti|t=leaves]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler give Plautus as its first author;^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in the ''Amphitruo'' Mercury says a god should not let a mortal pay for his own fault (''dēlictum suom'').^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a failure to meet a standard of conduct, a fault or offence, from a slight one to a crime: Caesar's greater offence, Cicero's “the greater the crime, the slower the punishment”, and Sallust's senate afraid of the people out of a guilty conscience.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Horace and Ovid also use it of a defect in a thing, such as a fault in a poem.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In the Vulgate it is a sin, and ''hostia prō dēlictō'' is the trespass offering;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church and medieval Latin use it for sin.^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|delict]] (1520s) is an offence in civil law.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a fault.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of crimes and their punishment.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of a fault in a poem.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate of sin and the trespass offering.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1520s – English [[m|en|delict]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|misdeed]], offence, fault, [[m|en|crime]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A defect (in a thing).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A [[m|en|sin]]; a [[m|en|trespass]].^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dēlinquō]]

+ * [[linquō]]

+ * [[peccātum]]

+ * [[en|delict]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein and Lewis and Short set ''dēlictum'', a lighter offence against positive law, from carelessness, beside [[peccātum]], an offence against the laws of nature and reason, from want of judgment.^(Döderlein 1874)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}