suspendium Latin · revision 34434

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sʊsˈpɛn.di.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [susˈpɛn.di.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''suspendium''' ''n'' (genitive suspendiī or suspendī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|suspendō|-ium|t1=to hang up]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) That verb is a compound of [[m|la|sub-|t=under]] and [[m|la|pendō|t=to hang]],^(Wiktionary) which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*pend-e/o-|t=to hang]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found first in Plautus:^(Köbler 2010) the ''Aulularia'' has ''utinam me divi adaxint ad suspendium'', “if only the gods would drive me to hang myself”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means hanging, usually of oneself: Cicero speaks of seeking a remedy for a wrong in death and the noose, and Suetonius and Pliny the Elder of ending one's life by hanging.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Poets use the plural, as Ovid of a tree that served a wretch for hanging,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) and Ammianus pairs ''suspendia'' with proscriptions.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Tertullian uses it of suspense or delay, and Augustine of the suspension of judgment.^(Conte 2010)^(Stelten 1995) Medieval meanings include delay, imprisonment and the right to hang criminals.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of hanging oneself.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the Verrines.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses the plural.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of suspense.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of the suspension of judgment.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|hanging|alt=Hanging]], especially of oneself.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' [[m|en|suspense]], delay; suspension of judgment.^(Conte 2010)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|imprisonment|alt=Imprisonment]], prison.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The right to hang criminals.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[suspendiōsus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}