Etymologically
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Roma

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈroː.ma], [ˈroː.maː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈrɔː.ma], [ˈrɔː.ma][1]

Forms

Rōma f sg (genitive Rōmae); first declension[1] The Greek form R(h)omē is cited by the jurist Capito (reported by Servius) and by Festus.[2]

Etymology

The origin of the name is uncertain.[1] Georges and Köbler take it to be of Etruscan origin,[3][4] and Wiktionary, for lack of a secure Indo-European etymology, finds it most appealing that it is from Etruscan 𐌓𐌖𐌌𐌀 (ruma), the name of an Etruscan family, which is from 𐌓𐌖𐌌 (rum, “teat”).[1] Another proposal traces it to an archaic name of the Tiber, made from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow”), perhaps through an Indo-European substrate.[1]

The Romans themselves derived the name from that of the founder, Rōmulus,[1] as Varro does (“Roma ab Romulo”).[5] This is almost certainly a folk etymology, and the founder's name is more likely made from the city's.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The name is found from Naevius on,[4] for the city of Rome on the Tiber.[1][3]

Semantic evolution

Besides the city, the name stood by metonymy for its people, as when Martial speaks of kissing “all Rome” (totam basiare Romam).[2] Roma was also worshipped as a goddess, with her own temple, as Livy and Tacitus record.[6][3] Varro dated the founding of the city to 21 April 753 BC, and Cato to 751 BC.[7]

In Late Latin the name covered both Rome and Constantinople, the “New Rome”.[1][8] Medieval writers used it for the Christian city, the seat of the papacy and a goal of pilgrimage,[8] and in Ecclesiastical Latin, chiefly in poetry, it could stand for the Roman Catholic Church.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses the name.[4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro derives Roma from Romulus.[5][4]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy records a temple of the goddess Roma.[6][4]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it for the population of Rome.[2][4]

Meanings

Proper noun

  1. Rome, the city on the Tiber.[2][6]
  2. (metonymy) The population of Rome.[2]
  3. The goddess Roma, the city personified.[2][6]
  4. (Late Latin) Rome or Constantinople, the “New Rome” (Rōma nova).[1][8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Rome as the seat of the papacy and a place of pilgrimage.[8]
  6. (Ecclesiastical Latin, poetic) The Roman Catholic Church.[1]

Word family

  • rōmānicus
  • rōmānus
  • Rōmulus

Usage notes

A separate medieval word roma, from Middle English, meant a compartment of a fish-weir or a room in a building.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e 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