debellatio

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin dēbellātiō.

Noun

debellatio (uncountable)

1. (international law) Debellation, the annihilation of a sovereign state through complete destruction in a war.
   • 2003 February 22, Victor T. Le Vine, “Factions Need Some Autonomy”, in St. Louis Post-Dispatch‎^[1]:

     According to the International Law doctrine of debellatio (KO’d by war), under which we profess to operate, it is the coalition, through Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III and his administration, that makes the important political and economic decisions for the Iraqis.

   • 2006, Melissa Patterson, “Who’s Got the Title: or, The Remnants of Debellatio in Post-Invasion Iraq”, in Harvard International Law Journal‎^[2], volume 47, number 2, page 467:

     The invasion of Iraq by the British and U.S.-led Coalition forces in March 2003 silently effected debellatio, the ancient doctrine by which a military victor takes title to territory in which the defeated government has ceased to function.

   • 2009, Yutaka Arai-Takahashi, The Law of Occupation, →ISBN, page 38:

     Further, occupation based on debellatio must be distinguished from the situation in which a belligerent conquers the whole territory of an adverse party but meets resistance movements (including those of sporadic nature).

Usage notes

See debellation.

Latin

Etymology

From Classical Latin dēbellō (“conquer, subjugate”) +‎ -tiō (suffix forming nouns).

Noun

dēbellātiō f (genitive dēbellātiōnis); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) total defeat
   • 13th century, Saba Malaspina, Rerum Sicularum, book 3, chapter 12:

     Non enim solummodo spolia hostium occisorum sua faciunt occupando, sed et civitatem miseram Beneventum sine personarum acceptione disrobant, et, quod pessimum est, innocentes incolas caedunt, et inventis inibi exteris non indulgent. […] Hos enim belli aut debellationis instantis felicius deglutisset eventus.

     For they not only caused the spoils of the slain enemies to be seized, but also plundered the wretched city of Benevento indiscriminately, and, worst of all, they struck down the innocent inhabitants, and they showed no mercy to the foreigners they found there. […] Yet a happier consequence of the moment of war or total defeat would overwhelm these things.

2. (Medieval Latin, in the plural) hostilities, battles, assaults
   • 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth, De Gestis Britonum IV:

     Postpositis ergo debellationibus, suaserunt maiores natu Aruirago promissionibus Claudii acquiescere.

     The hostilities having ceased, the (briton) elders persuaded Aruiragus to comply with Claudus' promises.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	dēbellātiō	dēbellātiōnēs
Genitive	dēbellātiōnis	dēbellātiōnum
Dative	dēbellātiōnī	dēbellātiōnibus
Accusative	dēbellātiōnem	dēbellātiōnēs
Ablative	dēbellātiōne	dēbellātiōnibus
Vocative	dēbellātiō	dēbellātiōnēs

References

• debellatio 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)