Etymograph

English

commination

Commination comes from Latin comminātiō ‘threat, menace’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to think, mind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*menāreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*(eks)menāreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminae‘threats’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEminor‘threaten, menace’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomminor‘to threaten’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomminātiō‘threat, menace’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595commination

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to think, mind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*menāreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*(eks)menāreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminae‘threats’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEminor‘threaten, menace’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomminor‘to threaten’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomminātiō‘threat, menace’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595commination

Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “ROMEO Good gentle youth, tempt not a desp’rate man.…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’

music, money, amount, mind, mental, mouth, museum, remain, mountain, permanent, auto, mount, comment, monster, mention, monitor, min, monetary, mentor, maya, monument, monk, amnesty, dementia, demonstration, muse, mosaic, mint, mas, monte, mantra, mania, muster, monastery, mandarin, amnesia, manic, monstrous, mont, eminent, 125 more

through Latin minor ‘threaten, menace’

minister, minor, menace, amenable, demean, 7 more

Today it means

noun A formal denunciation; especially one threatening divine punishment.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *men- / commination

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