-aris

Forms

-āris (neuter -āre); third-declension two-termination suffix^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin -ālis, with /l/ changed to /r/ by dissimilation when the base contains an /l/.^[1][2][3][4] Meiser counts this among the nearly regular cases of dissimilation at a distance, and sets it beside the same change in -culum and -bulum.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus already has familiāris “of the family”, from familia, mīlitāris “of a soldier”, from mīles, and populāris “popular”, from populus¹.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It remains parallel to -ālis in meaning, chosen by the shape of the base: Meiser sets vulgāris, populāris, cōnsulāris, mīlitāris and singulāris against aequālis, annālis, līberālis and plūrālis.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has familiāris, mīlitāris and populāris.^[2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro has cōnsulāris.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero has exemplar, in the form exemplar or exemplāre, from exemplum.^[2][6]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forms adjectives meaning “of the kind of” or “belonging to”, usually from a noun whose stem contains l: cōnsulāris, mīlitāris, populāris.^[5][1][2][4]

Word family

• cōnsulāris
• exemplar
• familiāris
• īnsulāris
• mīlitāris
• populāris
• singulāris
• stellāris
• vulgāris

Related words

• -ālis
• English -ar

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Weiss, Michael (2020), Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, 2nd ed., Ann Arbor: Beech Stave
3. ^ a b c Meiser, Gerhard (2010), Historische Laut- und Formenlehre der lateinischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Darmstadt: WBG
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de