adulterium

Forms

adulterium n (genitive adulteriī or adulterī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin adulter (“adulterer”) + -ium.^[2][1] De Vaan lists adulter “clandestine lover” among the derivatives of alius “other”, as a compound of ad and alter.^[3][1] The OLD suggests adulter may be a back-formation from adulterāre.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus describes a man “full of perjury and adultery”.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant adultery, as in Cato's speech about catching one's wife in adultery and Cicero's man caught in the act.^[2] Quintilian defines it as lying with another man's wife.^[5] In Manilius and Pliny it also meant the mixing of different ingredients or the grafting of trees.^[2]

Isidore says it got its name because it defiles another's bed.^[6] The Vulgate uses it of the woman taken in adultery.^[5] English adultery came from it through Old French around 1300.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of a wife caught in adultery.^[2][4]
• 1st century AD – Manilius uses it of mixing juices.^[2][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the woman taken in adultery.^[5][4]
• c. 1300 – English adultery is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Adultery.^[2][1]
2. Mixing, blending (of strains or ingredients); grafting.^[2][1]

Related words

• adulter
• English adultery
• English adulterate

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com