Iulius

Forms

Iūlius (feminine Iūlia, neuter Iūlium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

The origin of the family name is uncertain.^[1][2] It may be a contraction of an Old Latin name *Iovilios “descended from or belonging to Jove”, from the stem of Iovis,^[1][2][3] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- (“to shine”);^[2] Wiktionary also mentions Ancient Greek ἴουλος (íoulos, “the first down of the beard”).^[1]

Isidore of Seville derives the name from Iulus, the son of Aeneas, and quotes Virgil for it.^[4] The month was named in honour of Julius Caesar; it had been called Quīntīlis, the fifth month counting from March.^[5][4] Wiktionary dates the change to 44 BC.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source for the adjective is Cicero,^[3] who speaks of the lex Iulia that gave citizenship to the allies and the Latins.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is the name of the Julian gens, whose members include Julius Caesar and, by adoption, Augustus, and the feminine Iulia names women of the family, among them Caesar's daughter, Pompey's first wife, and the daughter of Augustus.^[5][6] As an adjective it describes what belongs to or is named after a member of the gens: the Iulium sidus of Horace, the Forum Iulium completed by Augustus, and many laws called lex Iulia.^[5][6]

After Caesar's death, mensis Iulius or Iulius alone became the name of the month of July.^[5] Cicero, writing that he came to Puteoli on the Nones of Quintilis, repeats the new date in a letter: “itane? nonis Iuliis?” (“really? on the Nones of July?”).^[5] Medieval Latin used it for July^[7][8] and, in Alcuin, for “princely”;^[7] in Neo-Latin a Iulius was also a papal coin named after Pope Julius II (1503–1513).^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions the lex Iulia and the new month name Iulius.^[5][3]
• 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of the Iulium sidus.^[5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses Iulius mensis for July.^[5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name of the month and of the gens.^[4]
• c. 1050 – English has the month name, as Iulius.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. The name of a Roman gens; as a noun, a member of it, especially Julius Caesar; in the feminine, a woman of the family.^[5][10]
2. Of or belonging to the Julian gens or one of its members; of towns, buildings and laws, named after one of them.^[5][6]
3. mēnsis Iūlius, or Iūlius alone: the month of July.^[5][6]
4. Of the month of July.^[5]
5. (New Latin) A papal coin, the giulio.^[9]

Word family

• iūliānus

Related words

• iūliensis
• Quīntīlis
• English July

Usage notes

Lex Iulia named many laws introduced by members of the Julian gens, especially Julius Caesar and Augustus;^[5] Statius alludes to Augustus' law on adultery.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c 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 n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press