archon

Forms

archōn m (genitive archontis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄρχων (árkhōn, “ruler”),^[2][3][1] and Köbler compares ἄρχω (árkhō, “to be the first, to rule”),^[4][5] the further origin of which he calls unexplained.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in On Fate for one of the chief magistrates of Athens.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is the Athenian archon:^[2] Velleius Paterculus writes of the Athenian archons, among them the archons for life (archontes perpetui).^[6][8] Later writers, from Tertullian on, used it for a high magistrate in general.^[8]

In Medieval Latin it meant a ruler or lord, the nobles of a realm, and, especially in English charters, an archbishop.^[9][10][11]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an Athenian archon.^[2][4]
• c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius Paterculus writes of the Athenian archons and the archons for life.^[8][4]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a high magistrate.^[8][4]
• 947 – A charter uses it of Wulfstan, archbishop of York.^[10]
• 1086–1090 – Benzo uses it in the medieval sense.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An archon, one of the chief magistrates of Athens.^[2][6]
2. (Late Latin) A high magistrate.^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin) A ruler, lord;^[9][10] (plural) the nobles.^[9][10]
4. (Medieval Latin) An archbishop.^[9][11][10]

Related words

• English archon

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b c d e 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
11. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre