latrocinium

Latin

Alternative forms

• latrōnicium (Late Latin metathesized form)

Etymology

From latrōcinor (“to rob, to fight for pay”) +‎ -ium, from Latin latrō (“mercenary, brigand”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /la.troːˈki.ni.um/, [ɫ̪ät̪roːˈkɪniʊ̃ˑ] or IPA^(key): /lat.roːˈki.ni.um/, [ɫ̪ät̪roːˈkɪniʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /la.troˈt͡ʃi.ni.um/, [lät̪roˈt͡ʃiːnium] or IPA^(key): /lat.roˈt͡ʃi.ni.um/, [lät̪roˈt͡ʃiːnium]

Noun

latrōcinium n (genitive latrōciniī or latrōcinī); second declension

1. military service for pay
2. (figuratively)
   1. robbery, banditry, highway robbery, piracy, brigandage; pillage, plundering
   2. an act of banditry or brigandage
   3. band of robbers
   4. villany, roguery, fraud
   5. (Ecclesiastical Latin, derogatory) an illegitimate church council, especially the Second Council of Ephesus

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	latrōcinium	latrōcinia
Genitive	latrōciniī latrōcinī1	latrōciniōrum
Dative	latrōciniō	latrōciniīs
Accusative	latrōcinium	latrōcinia
Ablative	latrōciniō	latrōciniīs
Vocative	latrōcinium	latrōcinia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

• latrōniciuim

Descendants

• Old French: larrecin, larcin
  • French: larcin
  • → English: larceny
• Borrowings:
  • → English: Latrocinium
  • → Italian: ladrocinio, latrocinio
  • → Portuguese: latrocínio
  • → Spanish: latrocinio

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “latrocĭnium”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 5: J L, page 202

Further reading

• “latrocinium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “latrocinium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• latrocinium in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• latrocinium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• latrocinium in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “latrocinium”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin