captio Latin · revision 36988

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''captiō''' ''f'' (genitive captiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|capiō|-tiō|t1=to take]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan suggests that it may continue an old noun [[m|itc-pro|*kap-ti-]], from which [[m|la|captīvus]] may also have been formed.^(de Vaan 2008) [[m|la|capiō]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*kap-i-|t=to seize]], which de Vaan derives from [[ine-pro|*kh₂p-i-]] or from a non-Indo-European source.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) meaning a trick: in the ''Asinaria'' one character tells another ''captiones metuis'', “you are afraid of tricks”.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Plautus it also means the loss that a trick causes (''ne quid captioni mihi sit'', “so that I come to no harm by it”).^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) In Cicero it is above all a fallacious argument of the dialecticians, a quibble,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Seneca uses it for what the Greeks called sophisms.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) Gellius and the jurists use it often,^(TLL) and the jurists also of the taking of a pledge and, apparently, of the right to take an inheritance.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Late Latin it is the catching of an animal or the arrest of a person,^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) and the Vulgate also uses it for a net.^(Georges 1913) In medieval Latin it also meant hunting, fishing, imprisonment, a prison and the capture of a fortified place.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|caption]] comes from it, directly or through Old French, first meaning “a taking, seizure”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of tricks and of the harm they do.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of sophistical arguments.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca equates it with Greek sophisms.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of the taking of a pledge.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of catching and of a net.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – English borrows it as [[m|en|caption]], “a taking, seizure”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|trick]], an act of [[m|en|deception]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A piece of [[m|en|sophistry]], a verbal [[m|en|quibble]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|loss|alt=Loss]], disadvantage.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(law)'' The taking of a pledge; apparently, the right to take an inheritance.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' A catching, capture; an arrest.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|hunting|alt=Hunting]], fishing; [[m|en|imprisonment]]; the capture of a fortified place.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[captiōsus]]

+ * [[captiuncula]]

+ * [[captensula]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}