Martinus
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Pronunciation
Forms
Mārtīnus m (genitive Mārtīnī); second declension[1]
Etymology
It is formed from Latin Mārs + -īnus, from the stem ⟨Mārt-⟩ of the god's name.[1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Gaffiot records several bearers of the name in Sulpicius Severus.[3][4]
Semantic evolution
Jordanes names a general of Justinian's called Martinus.[3] Etymonline notes that 17th-century writers said the bird called a martin was named after St Martin of Tours (died 397), patron saint of France, whose feast, Martinmas, falls on 11 November.[2] Medieval jurists called someone who clung stubbornly to his own opinion a Martinus, after the celebrated jurist Martinus under Frederick I, as Baronius reports;[5] Martinus bullians was the summer feast of St Martin.[5]
Timeline
- c. 363–c. 420 AD – Sulpicius Severus names men called Martinus.[3][4]
- 6th century AD – Jordanes names a general of Justinian's.[3][4]
- 1580s – English martin, a swallow-like bird, is borrowed from Old French, apparently from the personal name.[2]
Meanings
Proper noun
- A male given name, equivalent to Martin.[1][2]
- (Medieval Latin) A person who holds stubbornly to his own opinion.[5]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre