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) 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) Robbery, banditry, highway robbery, piracy, brigandage; pillage, plundering.
3. (figuratively) An act of banditry or brigandage.
4. (figuratively) A band of robbers.
5. (figuratively) Villany, roguery, fraud.
6. (figuratively, 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