pignus Latin · revision 5381

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Twelve Tables}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpɪŋ.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpiɲ.ɲus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pignus''' ''n'' (genitive pignoris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The etymology is uncertain, since the sense “pledge” could have grown from many concrete uses.^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan considers *peg-nos-, from [[ine-pro|*peh₂ǵ-|t=to fasten]], as in [[pangō]], with the old suffix of [[fēnus]] and [[mūnus]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) Walde and Pokorny preferred *pig-no- “something fixed”, and the OLD suggests the root of [[pingō]] “to paint”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from the Twelve Tables, and de Vaan from Plautus.^(Köbler 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates the Twelve Tables c. 450 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was anything given as security, a pledge, and also a hostage.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It was a stake in a bet, as in ''pignus dare'' “to wager”, a guarantee or token of something, and, in poetry, children as the pledges of a marriage.^(OLD 2012) Isidore explains it as a thing pledged for a loan, of which the creditor holds possession for a time.^(Isidore)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was land given in mortgage, a hostage, and a saint's relic.^(Niermeyer 1976) In British medieval Latin the Holy Spirit was called the ''pignus'' of salvation.^(DMLBS) It survives in [[it|pegno]] and [[es|peño]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – the Twelve Tables use it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has someone pledge himself.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius calls children the pledges of marriage.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore defines it in law.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pledge]], security; a [[m|en|hostage]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # A stake, wager.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A guarantee, token.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (plural) Children, as pledges of love.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|relic]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pignerō]]

+ * [[pignoriscapiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pangō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}