Latin Roots of "Communication"

    "Communication" is a word with a rich history. From the Latin communicare, meaning to impart, share, or make common, it entered the English language in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The key root is mun- (not uni-), related to such words as "munificent," "community," "meaning," and Gemeinschaft. The Latin munus has to do with gifts or duties offered publicly--including gladitorial shows, tributes, and rites to honor the dead. In Latin, communicatio did not signify the general arts of human connection via symbols, nor did it suggest the hope for some kind of mutual recognition. Its sense was not in the least mentalistic: communicatio generally involved tangibles."

~John Durham Peters (1999, p. 7)

Related Latin Words

commūnicā´ti/ō  -ō´nis  f. imparting; (rhet.) making the audience appear to take part in the discussion.

commū´nic/ō  -ā´re  -ā´v ī  -ā´tum  vt. Share (by giving or receiving); impart, communicate.  cōnsilia –– cum  make common cause with.

commū´n/iō  -ī´re  -ī´vi  & -iī  -a´tum  vt.  build (a fortification); fortify; strengthen.

commū´ni/ō  -ō´nis  f.  sharing in common, communion.

commū´n/is  a.  common, general, universal; (person) affable, democratic.  -ia loca  public places.  -ēs locī  general topics.  -is sēnsus  popular sentiment.  Aliquid -e habēre  have something in common.  -ē  -is  n. common property; state.  in -e  for a common end; equally; in general.  -iter  adj. in common, jointly.

commū´nt/ās  -ā-tis   f.  fellowship; sense of fellowship; affability.

commūnī´tiō  -ō´nis    f.  preparing the way.

~Collins Latin Gem Dictionary (London, 1961)