cappellanus

Forms

cappellānus m (genitive cappellānī); second declension^[1] The medieval dictionaries head it capellanus, with one ⟨p⟩;^[2][3][4][5] Du Cange refers cappellanus to that spelling.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin cappella (“chapel”) + -ānus, a -ānus derivative of the word for a chapel.^[1] In the 9th century Walahfrid Strabo explained that these clerics were named after the cappa (“cloak”) of Saint Martin that they carried.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Walahfrid Strabo, writing in the second quarter of the 9th century, already uses the word for the clerics of a chapel and explains its origin.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to medieval Latin.^[1] It first named a cleric attached to the royal chapel, and then the head of that chapel.^[2][4] From there it spread to clerics serving the court of a lord, a bishop or the papal curia, priests serving a particular chapel, and assistants of parish priests; at a lord's court the chaplain could also head the chancery.^[2][4][3] British sources use it for chaplains of the king, the pope, bishops and lay magnates, and for chaplains serving in castles or with troops.^[3] As an adjective it meant “attached to the royal chapel”, and of a church “subject to a parish church”.^[2][4]

It lives on in Italian cappellano, Catalan capellà and French chapelain, and was borrowed into Spanish as capellán.^[1] English took chaplain from Old French, replacing an earlier Old English borrowing of the Latin word.^[6]

Timeline

• 825–850 – Walahfrid Strabo derives the clerics' name from Saint Martin's cloak.^[4][7]
• 893 – Asser, writing on King Alfred, calls two learned priests capellani.^[3][7]
• 1068 – A royal charter is witnessed by “Michael, the king's chaplain”.^[3]
• 1085–1086 – The Domesday Book records land held by a chaplain of the king.^[3]
• mid-14th century – English has chaplain, from Old French, ultimately from this word.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A cleric attached to the royal chapel.^[2][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) The head of the royal chapel.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A chaplain: a cleric serving the household of a lord, bishop or pope, or ministering at a chapel.^[2][3][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) An assistant of a parish priest.^[4]

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Attached to the royal chapel.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Of a church: subject to a parish church.^[4]

Related words

• English chaplain

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson