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adiutrix

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word adiutrix

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₁i-h₁euH-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin adiuvo
Latin adiutrix
Latin adiumentum
Latin adiutorium

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [adˈjuː.triːks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [adˈjuː.triks][1]

Forms

adiūtrīx f (genitive adiūtrīcis, masculine adiūtor); third declension[1] It is also spelled adjūtrīx.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin adiuvō (“to help”) + -trīx, the feminine of adiūtor.[3][1] De Vaan traces iuvō to Proto-Italic *ijow- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁i-h₁euH- (“to help”).[4] Cognate with Sanskrit अवति (ávati, “to help, protect”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] in whom some fortune is said to have been a helper, aliqua fortuna fuerit adiutrix tibi.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a female helper or accomplice:[3] in Terence mothers are their sons' helpers in wrongdoing.[2] It is often used with feminine abstract nouns, as when Terence asks that the audience's authority be a supporter and helper of his own.[3] It is also the title of certain legions, the First and Second Adiūtrīx, in inscriptions and in Tacitus.[3] Inscriptions also have it as a woman's name.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a helping fortune.[2][4][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence, of mothers helping their sons.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of the legion Prima Adiūtrīx.[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A female helper, assistant or accomplice.[3][2][1]
  2. The title of certain legions.[3]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Adiutrix.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/adiutrix. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·