Etymologically
Log in

belliger

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 00:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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]

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