Alemannus

Forms

Alemannus m (genitive Alemannī, feminine Alemanna); second declension^[1] Late writers also spell it ⟨Alamannus⟩ and ⟨Alamānus⟩, and medieval glosses ⟨Almannus⟩.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is the singular of the tribal name Alemannī, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *alamann-, which corresponds to Proto-Germanic *allaz (“all”) and Proto-Germanic *mann- (“man”).^[1][3] Köbler explains the name as “all men”.^[3] Greek writers have Ἀλαμαννοί (Alamannoí).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges and Köbler find the people first in Arnobius, at the start of the 4th century, where they are the Alamanni, a league of Germanic tribes that grew out of the Suebi, living between the Danube, the upper Rhine and the Main.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Aurelius Victor, Claudian and the Historia Augusta also name them,^[2] and Ammianus Marcellinus uses the word as an adjective, “Alemannic”, and calls their land Alamannia.^[4][3] The early medieval law codes of the Alemanni, the Bavarians and the Ripuarian Franks use the adjective.^[3]

In medieval Latin the name widened to the Germans in general: Boniface speaks in 742 of simple men who are Alamannī, Bavarians or Franks, and later British writers use it for Germans.^[5][3] French Allemand “German” continues it.^[1]

Timeline

• 297–310 AD – Arnobius names the Alamanni.^[2][3]
• c. 360 AD – Aurelius Victor names them.^[2][3]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it as an adjective.^[4][3]
• 742 – Boniface names the Alamanni beside the Bavarians and the Franks.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A member of the Alemanni, a Germanic league of tribes on the upper Rhine and Danube.^[2][1][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) A German.^[5][3]

Adjective

1. Alemannic.^[4][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) German.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press