plebiscitum Latin · revision 4335

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Plautus|origins=la plēbs, la scīscō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [pɫeː.bɪsˈkiː.tũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ple.biʃˈʃiː.tum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''plēbiscītum''' ''n'' (genitive plēbiscītī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|plebs|scitum|t1=common people|t2=decree]], often written separately as [[m|la|plēbī scītum]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) [[m|la|scītum]] is the participle of [[scisco|alt=scīscō]] “to vote for, decree”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus, in the Pseudolus, uses ''plēbī scītum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a decree of the plebs, as opposed to a [[senatus consultum|alt=senātūs cōnsultum]], and Cicero and the Institutes of Justinian use it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Gellius quotes Capito that a ''plēbis scītum'' is a law which the plebs, not the whole people, accepts.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The DMLBS explains it as a resolution of the plebs in the tribal assembly, given the force of law around 287 BC.^(DMLBS)

+

+ English ''plebiscite'' is used of Roman history from the 1530s, and came from French in its modern sense, a direct vote of the people, in 1852.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses ''plēbī scītum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius defines it after Capito.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1530s – English ''plebiscite'' is recorded for Roman history.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A decree of the plebs, a [[m|en|plebiscite]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plebs|alt=plēbs]]

+ * [[en|plebiscite]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}