Etymologically
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auriga

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [au̯ˈriː.ɡa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [au̯ˈriː.ɡa][1]

Forms

aurīga m (genitive aurīgae); first declension[1] It is also spelled ōrīga.[2] Festus records a form aureax.[3][4] Priscian treats it as of common gender.[4]

Etymology

It is usually explained as a compound of aureae (“reins”) and the root of agō (“to drive”), “one who drives with the reins”.[2][3][5] De Vaan notes that ⟨aureae⟩, found once in Festus, would be a hypercorrect spelling of *ōreae (“mouth-pieces”), from ōs (“mouth”);[3] Dunkel reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *ōs-ei-h₂g- (“bit-driver”) for ⟨aureax⟩.[3] Ernout and Meillet reject this explanation on grounds of meaning, and de Vaan thinks that ⟨aurīga⟩ is the older compound.[3] He traces agō to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-e/o- (“to drive, lead”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Varro,[3][6] who uses it of the driver of a threshing sledge drawn by animals and of a groom.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a charioteer or driver, especially in the races of the circus: Ulpian doubts that a charioteer left the use of horses may race them, and Tertullian says the charioteers were dressed in the colours of idolatry.[2][7] Cicero, in his Aratea, uses it of the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer.[2][5] In poetry it is the steersman of a ship, as Varro of Atax makes Tiphys the pilot of the swift ship, and in Varro it is also a groom.[2] The Vulgate uses it of a chariot driver.[4] Church Latin glosses it charioteer.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of a driver and a groom.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the constellation.[2][6]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian of a racing charioteer.[7][6]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian of charioteers' colours.[7][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A charioteer, driver.[2][4][1]
  2. The constellation Auriga, the Charioteer.[2][5]
  3. (poetic) The steersman of a ship, a pilot.[2]
  4. A groom, ostler.[2][1]

Word family

  • aurigalis
  • aurigarius

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 k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson