abbas

Forms

abbās m (genitive abbātis, feminine abbātissa); third declension^[1] The nominative abba is common in Late Latin: Gregory of Tours knows only this form, and it prevails in Christian inscriptions.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς (abbâs, “father, abbot”),^[1][4][5] from Aramaic אבא (ʼabbā, “father”).^[1][6] Etymonline explains the Aramaic word as the emphatic state of the word for “father”, “the father, my father”.^[6] The TLL suggests that the title came from Egypt, where monks and other venerable men were addressed as abba (“father”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first examples are in Jerome, who uses it both of a venerable man called “father” and of the head of a community of monks.^[2][7] Commenting on Galatians, he objects that since abba means father in Hebrew and Syriac, and the Lord commands that no one but God be called father, he does not know by what right monasteries give this name to others.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it was first a title of honour for old and holy monks, as in Cassian,^[2][8] and then the title of the head of a monastery, the abbot, as in Augustine, Cassian and Sidonius Apollinaris and in an inscription of 468.^[2][9] From it were formed abbātissa “abbess”, found in an inscription of 570, and abbātia “abbey”.^[9]

Medieval Latin used it widely: of God as holy father, of the abbots of every kind of community, including abbot-bishops and lay abbots,^[4] of the leading clergy of a bishop's city in the Merovingian period, of the head of the palace chapel,^[8][4] and in Italian cities, as abbās populī, of the head of the people.^[8] The DMLBS also has it as a fitting title for a bishop.^[5]

The English word goes back to Old English ⟨abbod⟩, from the Latin accusative ⟨abbātem⟩; the spelling with ⟨t⟩ is a later Latinization.^[6] Conte gives Late Latin abbās as the source of Italian abate.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of venerable monks and of the head of a monastery.^[2][7]
• c. 360–c. 435 AD – Cassian uses it as a title of holy monks and of heads of monasteries.^[2][7]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it of the head of a monastery.^[2][9][7]
• 468 – An inscription dated to this year uses it.^[9]
• 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses only the nominative abba.^[2][7]
• Old English period – English borrows it as ⟨abbod⟩.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Father, a title of honour for venerable monks.^[2][8][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) An elderly monk.^[8]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An abbot, the head of a monastery.^{[9][8][11][5]}
4. (Medieval Latin, plural) The leading members of the clergy of a bishop's city.^[8][4]
5. (Medieval Latin) The head of the palace chapel.^[8]
6. (Medieval Latin) abbās populī: the head of the people in Italian cities.^[8]

Word family

• abbātissa
• abbātia

Related words

• English abbot

Usage notes

The indeclinable abba “father” of the Gospels (Abba, pater) is the same word in its unadapted form;^[1][9] Augustine explains that abba is Hebrew for “father”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c 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
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson