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accensus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word accensus

accensus1 attendant

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*ḱns-eh₁-)

Forms

accēnsus m (genitive accēnsī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The attendant is from Latin accēnseō (“to reckon in addition”), its participle used as a noun.[1][2][3] De Vaan lists it under cēnseō (“to assess”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *knsē- (“to estimate”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱns-eh₁- (“to announce”); cognate with Oscan censaum (“to take the census”).[4] Varro reports that Cato called them ministrants.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has both senses in fragments:[1][4] “where are the accensi?” among a list of troops, and an accensus who called out noon.[1]

Semantic evolution

In the army the accēnsī were supernumeraries.[1] Georges explains them as men added to the fifth property class who followed the legion as a reserve to fill its ranks; as they were clothed but not armed, they were called accēnsī velātī, a term in Cicero's De re publica.[2][1] In Livy the third standard leads the accēnsī, the troops least relied on.[1] In civil life an accēnsus was the attendant of a magistrate: in Livy each decemvir had one, Cicero mentions one at a funeral with the lictors, and the charter of Urso grants each duumvir an accēnsus with two lictors.[1][2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of supernumeraries and of an attendant who called the noon.[1][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the accēnsī velātī and of a magistrate's attendant.[1][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of the decemvirs' attendants and of reserve troops.[1][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (military, usually plural) A supernumerary soldier;[1][2][3] accēnsī velātī, a class of reserve troops.[1][2][3]
  2. An attendant of a magistrate, an orderly.[1][2][3]

accensus2 kindling

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
23/24–79 AD, Pliny the Elder
Ultimate origin
Latin (accendō)
Etymology tree of accensus2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin accendo
Latin accensus

Forms

accēnsus m (genitive accēnsūs); fourth declension[3]

Etymology

The kindling is from Latin accendō (“to set alight”) + -tus, a fourth-declension noun of action.[1][6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder has it twice, of lighting torches and lamps; he names a gem from the lighting of lamps.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Symmachus writes of helping the daylight by lighting lamps.[7][2] Lewis & Short note that one Pliny passage is doubtful, with assensu as a variant reading.[6]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of lighting lamps.[7][5]
  • c. 340–402 AD – Symmachus, of lighting lamps.[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A lighting, kindling.[1][6][3]

Usage notes

Accēnsus is also the participle of accendō “kindled” and of accēnseō “reckoned among”.[6][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Cite this entry

“Accensus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/accensus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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