A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

sancitus,-a,-um ([part.A): apparently, in the following passages, meaning ‘sanctified,’ i.e. given official or authoritative approval, as in official taxonomic names, ratified, given formal approval or validity, endorse, uphold; formalize; recognize, validate; a form of the participle used by Lucretius (Glare).

NOTE: see sanctus,-a,-um (part.A).

- [Sphagnum] nomen antiquum, a Plinio lichenibus muscisque nonnullis arboreis datum, a Dillenio huicce generi impositum, a Linnaeo et Hedwigio sancitum. Cf. Dill. Musc. p. 240. (C. Mueller), an ancient name, given by Pliny for some arboreal mosses and lichens, imposed by Dillenius on this very genus, had been validated by Linnaeus and Hedwig. Compare Dillenius, Musci page 240.

- [Splachnum] nomen graecum (spla[g]chnon) Dioscorideum lichenes pulmonarias nunc Stictus designans, a Linnaeo Splachnaceis omnibus impositum et ab Hedwigio sancitum (C. Muell.), a Dioscoridean Greek name designating Lichenes pulmonarias, now Stictus; applied by Linnaeus to all the Splachnaceae and endorsed by Hedwig.

- nomen toti generi a Dillenio impositum, a Linnaeo et Hedwigio sancitum (C. Muell.), a name applied to the whole genus by Dillenius, sanctioned by Linnaeus and Hedwig.

- [Bryum] nomen antiquum in Dioscoride et Plinio occurrens, a Dillenio huicce generi affinibusque impositum, ab Hedwigio sancitum (C. Muell.), an ancient name occurring in Dioscorides and Pliny, applied by Dillenius to this genus and related [sc. species] and ratified by Hedwig.

NOTE: regarding ‘sancitus,-a,-um (part.A): “Rosweyde, Vitae Patrum, sig. *6r.

“Relictis igitur Sanctorum armariis ad Sancitorum armamentaria me converti.” The choice for “sancitorum,” an unusual neologism, is an odd one. Ecclesiastical Latin had coined the word “sancitus” (hallowed, ratified) as the perfect participle of “sancio,” in order to avoid the inevitable confusion with “sanctus” (the original participle) but I have not been able to find a single instance of this participle in the genitive plural elsewhere. Nevertheless, Rosweyde’s word play highlights interchangeability of “sanctus” and “sancitus,” and the link between the two words was perfectly clear. See, for instance, the following comment by a contemporary of Rosweyde in relation to St Francis of Assisi: Laurentius a Brundusio, Opera omnia, vol. 9, Sanctorale (Padua: Officina typographica seminarii, 1944), 173. “Latine dicitur sanctus quasi sancitus, confirmatus, nam sanctus est qui in fide, spe et caritate confirmatus est.” Originally retrieved from the Library of Latin Texts (Brepolis). p. 129. Jan Machielsen in Angels of Light? Sanctity and the Discernment of Spirits in the Early Modern Period. 2013. Clare Copeland, Johannes Machielsen, eds.