comissatio Latin · revision 36809

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=grc κωμάζω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [koː.mɪsˈsaː.ti.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ko.misˈsat.t͡si.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cōmissātiō''' ''f'' (genitive cōmissātiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The spellings ''cōmisātiō'' and ''commissātiō'' also occur, and manuscripts of Seneca have ''comessātiō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|cōmissor|-tiō|t1=to revel, carouse]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) That verb was borrowed from [[grc|κωμάζω|tr=kōmázō|t=to revel, make merry]], a derivative of [[m|grc|κῶμος|tr=kômos|t=revel]].^(Wiktionary) Döderlein, too, derives the noun from the Greek verb.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ Wiktionary explains the many variant spellings as the result of mistaken links with [[m|la|cōmis|t=friendly]], [[m|la|comedō|t=to eat up]] and [[m|la|mēnsa|t=table]].^(Wiktionary) The DMLBS suggests that the medieval spelling ⟨comess-⟩ was influenced by [[m|la|comēstiō|t=eating]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879) in the sense of a riotous revel after a dinner.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it was the drinking and merrymaking that followed a banquet, with the procession of the revellers through the streets that went with it;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) in general it meant carousing or revelry, often in the plural.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Cicero speaks of ''totus comissationis Antonianae chorus'', “the whole troupe of Antony's revels”,^(Conte 2010) and in the ''De oratore'' he censures the metaphors ''tempestās comissātiōnis'' as too bold and ''comissātiō tempestātis'' as too feeble.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Livy, Seneca, Suetonius and Gellius use it as well.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In Christian Latin, where the Vulgate uses it,^(MLW) it took on the sense of an immoderate meal or gluttony,^(MLW)^(DMLBS) and the TLL notes that ''comessātiō'' came to mean simply eating.^(TLL) Medieval writers used it of feasting and drinking bouts, of banquets at pagan festivals and in guilds, and of food itself.^(MLW)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of drunken revels.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it in his history.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca writes it with the spelling ''comessātiō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it.^(MLW)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 793 – Alcuin writes in a letter of hidden revels.^(DMLBS)

+ * c. 1218 – A synodal statute forbids celebrating marriages in taverns and at feasts.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|revel]] after a dinner, a drinking party followed by a procession of the guests.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # [[m|en|carousing|alt=Carousing]], feasting, [[m|en|revelry]].^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' An immoderate meal; [[m|en|gluttony]].^(MLW)^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Food, eating.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cōmissātor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes it from its near-synonyms: [[epulae]] is any meal, [[convivium]] a meal shared with company, [[dapes]] a sacrificial meal, [[epulum]] a solemn public banquet, and ''comissātiō'' a feast of gluttony.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}