capitaneus
Pronunciation
Forms
capitāneus (feminine capitānea, neuter capitāneum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Medieval spellings include capitānius, capotāneus, cathāneus and cattāneus.[2][3]
Etymology
It is from Latin caput (“head”), with the adjective suffix -āneus.[1][4][5] The TLL calls it a word of the latest Latin.[4] Wiktionary notes that in the Middle Ages it merged with similar forms (catepanus, ⟨capetanus⟩) that rendered the title of a senior Byzantine official, the catepan.[1] Through Old French capitaine it is the source of Middle High German capitān and German Kapitän.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Its first dated use is in Cassiodorus' commentary on the Psalms, where capitāneī versūs are “the opening lines”.[6][7][4][2] The land surveyors' treatises (Gromatici) call capital letters capitāneae litterae.[4][5][8]
Semantic evolution
In Late Latin the adjective could mean “first, at the head” (of verses), “principal” (of a sum of money, in a papyrus of 551) and, of a person, “foremost, leading”.[4] In medieval Latin it became common as an adjective, “chief, principal” (altāre capitāneum “high altar”) and “of high rank”, and as a noun for a person of rank:[9][3] a great vassal or tenant in chief, a prince of the Empire, a leading citizen, a military commander, and in Italian towns a governor (podestà).[9][2] In the census sense it described the poll tax (cēnsus capitāneus) and the dependant who paid it.[9][3] British writers use it for a chief official, a capital city, a ringleader and a captain.[10]
Timeline
- c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of the first lines of a psalm.[4][2]
- 551 AD – A papyrus uses it of a principal sum of money.[4]
- 786 AD – First record of the noun, “leading man”, in the Frankish annals.[2]
- 1236 AD – A Würzburg charter speaks of a cēnsus capitāneus, a poll tax.[3]
- 1271 AD – A close roll uses it of a chief justice in eyre.[10]
Meanings
Adjective
- Large, standing out by size: capitāneae litterae “capital letters”.[8][5]
- (Late Latin) First, at the head: capitāneī versūs “opening lines”.[6][7]
- (Medieval Latin) principal, chief, main: altāre capitāneum “high altar”.[9][3]
- (Medieval Latin) Of high rank, prominent; vested with authority.[9][3]
- (Medieval Latin) Of the poll tax: cēnsus capitāneus.[9][3]
Noun
- (Medieval Latin) A prominent person, magnate; a great vassal, tenant in chief.[9][10][2]
- (Medieval Latin) A military commander, captain.[9][10][11]
- (Medieval Latin) A town governor (podestà); a leading citizen.[9]
- (Medieval Latin) A ringleader, faction leader.[10][2]
- (Medieval Latin) A dependant who pays the poll tax.[9]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
- ^ 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
- ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson