Hispanus

Pronunciation

• Classical: [hɪsˈpaː.nʊs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [isˈpaː.nus]^[1]

Forms

Hispānus (feminine Hispāna, neuter Hispānum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] As a noun: Hispānus m (genitive Hispānī, feminine Hispāna); second declension.^[1]

Etymology

Wiktionary derives it from Latin Hispānia + -ānus.^[1] Georges and Köbler see the relation the other way round, taking the people's name ⟨Hispānī⟩ as the base of the country's name;^[2][3] Köbler takes it to be probably of Iberian origin.^[3] Isidore of Seville writes that the Hispani were first called Iberi after the river Iberus and later Hispani after Hispalus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is the first to use it, in the plural, for the Spaniards.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it meant Spanish, of Spanish origin, make or descent:^[6][5] Caesar has Spanish horsemen,^[6] and Gellius speaks of a man with a Spanish accent, Hispānō ōre.^[5][7] Used on its own, the feminine plural Hispānae meant Spanish cloaks in Martial, and the neuter Hispānum Spanish wine in Petronius.^[5][7] As a noun it was a Spaniard;^[6][2] Cicero says that “we” did not surpass the Hispānī in numbers.^[6][5] It was also a Roman cognomen.^[6]

Medieval British writers used it for the Spanish and for Spaniards,^[8][9] and the British History attributed to Nennius traces the Iberians and the Hispānī to Tubal.^[8] Du Cange cites the Hungarian chronicle of Thuróczy, which, in its account of Attila, says that certain captains were called Hispānī in their own language and that Spain was named after them; from such Hispānī some derived the Hungarian title ispán, a count.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the plural for the Spaniards.^[5][3]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar writes of Spanish horsemen.^[6][3]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses the neuter for Spanish wine.^[5][3]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses the feminine plural for Spanish cloaks.^[5][3]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius speaks of a Spanish accent.^[5][3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name from Hispalus.^[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Spanish; of Spanish origin, make or descent.^[6][1][5]
2. Of the Spaniards.^[6]
3. Hispānō ōre: with a Spanish accent.^[5][7]
4. (feminine plural as a noun) Spanish cloaks.^[5]
5. (neuter as a noun) Spanish wine.^[5][7]

Noun

1. A Spaniard;^[6][2][1] (plural) the Spaniards.^[6][2][1]
2. A Roman cognomen.^[6]

Related words

• Hispānia
• Hispānicus
• Hispāniēnsis
• English Spaniard

Usage notes

The adjective Hispāniēnsis could mark where someone was born rather than his descent: Velleius Paterculus calls a man nōn Hispāniēnsis nātus, sed Hispānus, “not born in Spain, but a Spaniard”, and Martial plays on the same contrast with a book.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
8. ^ a b 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
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre