antesignanus

Forms

antesignānus m (genitive antesignānī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ante (“before”) + signum (“standard”) + -ānus, “one who is before the standard”.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in his Menippean satires, describes antesignani with square shields following the light-armed skirmishers.^[5][4] Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^[6]

Semantic evolution

As a military term it first named the soldiers of the front line, who stepped in front of the standards in an attack;^[3][5] Livy uses it often in this sense.^[3][5] In Caesar the antesignani are lightly armed legionaries attached to each legion, a picked force, perhaps formed by Caesar himself.^[3][5] Figuratively it is a leader or champion: Cicero tells Antony he had been an antesignanus at Pharsalus, and Apuleius uses it of a robber chief.^[2][3][4]

In Medieval Latin it is a standard-bearer or champion, and also, figuratively, a witness confirmed by a miraculous sign.^[7][6] Writers in Britain use it of front-line soldiers or standard-bearers.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro describes the antesignani in his satires.^[5][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively of a champion.^[2][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of picked light-armed legionaries.^[5][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the front-line soldiers.^[5][6]
• 9th century – Odilo of Soissons uses it.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military, chiefly plural) A soldier who fought in front of the standards, one of the front line; in Caesar, a picked light-armed legionary.^[5][3][4]
2. (figurative) A leader, champion.^[2][3]
3. (Medieval Latin) A standard-bearer.^[7][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) A witness confirmed by a miraculous sign.^[7]

Related words

• signifer

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b 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