Etymologically
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adulterium

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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]
  • 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