archipirata

Forms

archipīrāta m (genitive archipīrātae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀρχιπειρατής (arkhipeiratḗs, “pirate chief”).^[2][1][3] The Greek word is made of ἀρχι- (arkhi-, “chief”) and πειρατής (peiratḗs, “pirate”), which Köbler connects with πειράω (peiráō, “to attempt”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first, in the Verrine Orations and De officiis.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Verrines Cicero also calls the same man the leader of the robbers, praedōnum dux.^[5] Livy uses it of a pirate leader.^[3] Quintilian quotes the word in his discussion of prose rhythm, as a cretic and a spondee.^[5] In Medieval Latin it is the commander of a fleet.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a pirate chief.^[3][5][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it.^[3][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian cites it for its rhythm.^[5][4]
• Middle Ages – a fleet commander.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pirate chief, leader of pirates.^[2][3][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A commander of a fleet.^[6]

Related words

• pīrāta

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill