Etymologically
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Maccabaeus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mak.kaˈbae̯.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [mak.kaˈbɛː.us][1]

Forms

Maccabaeus m (genitive Maccabaeī); second declension[1] The Vulgate and the classical dictionaries spell it Machabaeus; the plural Machabaeī names the Maccabees.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Μακκαβαῖος (Makkabaîos), from Biblical Hebrew מַכַּבִּי (makkabbī).[1] Köbler connects it with a Hebrew word for “hammer”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Vulgate, as the surname of Judas in the books of Maccabees.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

From the surname of Judas, Augustine and Jerome used the plural Machabaeī for the whole family of the Maccabees,[2][3] and Augustine also for the books of the Bible named after them.[3] In Ecclesiastical Latin Machabaeī is the name of those books of the Old Testament.[6] Gaffiot notes that the name also covers the seven brothers martyred under Antiochus Epiphanes.[4]

Timeline

  • 390–406 – The Vulgate uses it as the surname of Judas.[2][5]
  • 354–430 – Augustine speaks of the Maccabees and of the books of the Maccabees.[3][5]

Meanings

Proper noun

  1. (biblical) Maccabee, surname of Judas, leader of the Jews.[2][3][1]
  2. (plural) Machabaeī: the Maccabees, the family of Judas; also the seven martyred brothers.[2][4]
  3. (plural, Ecclesiastical Latin) The books of the Maccabees in the Old Testament.[3][6]
  • English Maccabee

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson