The Polysemy of ius, iuris (‘law’, ‘dressing, sauce’) and the genuine idea (‘union’) of Roman Law

Abstract

Ius, iuris (‘law’ and ‘sauce’) was originally one word from the same root as iungere ‘to join together’). From the meaning ‘union’ that it had in ordinary language, it evolved into the two technical usages that are conserved in historical times. We believe that this hypothesis is supported by clear methodological criteria and by sound arguments. Because of this, we should not reject it for tenuous phonetic reasons or because of supposed semantic difficulties. If attention is paid to the difference between ordinary and special language, to the instrumental sense with which each meaning of ius develops into a technical term, the oral character of the legal ius and to the numerous analogies between legal, culinary and even medical formulae in different languages, the etymological unity of ius seems obvious.