belliger

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈbɛl.lɪ.ɡɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbɛl.li.d͡ʒer]^[1]

Forms

belliger (feminine belligera, neuter belligerum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin bellum (“war”) + -ger (“bearing, waging”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan notes that ⟨bellum⟩ continues Old Latin duellum, disyllabic in Plautus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Ovid.^[5][2] Köbler dates Ovid 43 BC–18 AD.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Poetic, especially post-Augustan, it meant warlike, martial, warring, valiant, as of peoples in Ovid, and of things used in war, battle-, as in Martial.^[2][6] Sidonius also has bellifer.^[7]

British Medieval Latin used it for warlike, and as a noun a warrior, as in Aldhelm.^[8] It survives in Spanish belígero.^[1]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it.^[2][5]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of things.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Warlike, martial.^[2]
2. Of war, battle-.^[2]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A warrior.^[8]

Related words

• bellum
• belligerō
• bellipotēns

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ 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 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