-arium

Forms

-ārium n (genitive -āriī or -ārī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin -ārius, the neuter of the adjective used as a noun.^[2][1][3] That suffix goes back to Proto-Italic *-āzios.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus already has grānārium “granary”, from grānum, and sōlārium¹ “sun-room, sundial”, from sōl.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It mostly names a place,^[2] or a place or object meant for a purpose: things kept there, or an object used to a particular end.^[1] aerārium “treasury” is the neuter of aerārius “connected with bronze or coinage”.^[3] Etymonline names sōlārium¹, vīvārium, honōrārium and cucumerārium among the Latin neuters used as nouns.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has grānārium and sōlārium¹.^[3][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato has aerārium.^[3][5]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forms neuter nouns from other nouns, usually naming a place: caldārium, grānārium, sēminārium.^[2][1]
2. Forms nouns for an object used to a particular end: sōlārium¹ “sundial”, mīliārium.^[2][1][3]

Word family

• aerārium
• caldārium
• cucumerārium
• grānārium
• honōrārium
• mīliārium
• sēminārium
• sōlārium
• vīvārium

Related words

• -ārius
• -ium
• English -ary

References

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