religio Latin · revision 4032

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [rɛˈlɪ.ɡi.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [reˈliː.d͡ʒi.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''religiō''' ''f'' (genitive religiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin was disputed in antiquity and still is.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Cicero derived it from [[m|la|relegere|t=to go over again, consider carefully]], while Servius, Lactantius and Augustine took it from [[religo|alt=religāre]] “to bind fast”, citing Lucretius' phrase [[m|la|religionum nodis|t=the knots of religion]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short say most modern scholars prefer ''religāre'', but the OLD leaves it open between [[ligo|alt=ligō]] and [[lego|alt=legō]], and the TLL and Georges derive it from a third-conjugation verb [[m|la|*religō|t=to heed]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has “it put a scruple in my way, I'll go back there”.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It first meant a feeling of supernatural constraint acting as a check, a scruple of conscience, and a state of guilt from breaking divine law.^(OLD 2012) It meant a sign of divine will, as Virgil's favourable omen, a religious sanction, a sense of the presence of divine power, awe, as Cicero's question to Verres whether Diana stirred no awe in him, and the sanctity of a person, place or thing.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It meant religious observance and rites, a particular cult, and conscientiousness in one's obligations, as Cicero's ''erga deos religio''.^(OLD 2012) In poetry the first syllable is long, spelled ''relligio''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Late Latin it became a religion, a system of belief, and in medieval Latin piety, the monastic life and a religious community.^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976) Isidore says that through it we bind our souls to the one God.^(Isidore) English ''religion'' was borrowed around 1200, first meaning the life of monastic vows.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero derives it from ''relegere''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a divine sign.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains it from ''religare''.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – English ''religion'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|scruple]], a feeling of religious constraint.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A divine sign; a religious sanction.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Religious awe, fear of the gods.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|Sanctity]]; a holy thing or place.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Religious observance; a [[m|en|cult]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Conscientiousness.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' A [[m|en|religion]], a system of belief.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Piety; the monastic life; a religious community.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[irreligio]]

+ * [[religiōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|religion]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein says ''religio'' is conscientiousness from an inward obligation, ''fides'' from an outward one, a promise.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}