codicillus

Tacitus; because when he lived his countrymen confined the meaning of "codicillus" to a wooden table for writing on, and thence, figuratively, for "a note" or "letter": it was not till several centuries after, -- the first part of the fifth (409-450), -- in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, that the lawyers used the word to signify "an imperial patent or diploma"; for

Tacitus and Bracciolini The Annals Forged in the XVth Century John Wilson Ross 1852

It looks then tolerably clear that the author of the Annals got his Latin about "codicillus" in the plural signifying the "codicil to a will" either from the Institutes of

Tacitus and Bracciolini The Annals Forged in the XVth Century John Wilson Ross 1852

In both parts of the Annals "codicillus" is used in the plural as signifying "the codicil to a will" (VI. 9): "precatusque per

Tacitus and Bracciolini The Annals Forged in the XVth Century John Wilson Ross 1852

After due enquiry, it appears that _codicillus_ was used by the Latin authors, for what we now call _the letters patent of a prince_.

A Dialogue Concerning Oratory, Or The Causes Of Corrupt Eloquence The Works Of Cornelius Tacitus, Volume 8 (of 8); With An Essay On His Life And Genius, Notes, Supplements Caius Cornelius Tacitus

Words not used by Tacitus, distinctus and codicillus.

Tacitus and Bracciolini The Annals Forged in the XVth Century John Wilson Ross 1852

-- "exarare," possibly, when speaking of the "codicillus," or little wooden table made of wax, which he sent as a note or billet-doux to a friend or sweetheart, the figurative verb being applicable to the stylus "ploughing" letters "out" of the wax.

Tacitus and Bracciolini The Annals Forged in the XVth Century John Wilson Ross 1852