Etymologically
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centena

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Forms

centēna f (genitive centēnae); first declension[1][2] Medieval spellings include centina and centana.[3][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin centēnus (“a hundred each; of a hundred”), its feminine used as a noun.[4][1][5] For the medieval senses Niermeyer explains it as centum (“hundred”) used to render the Germanic word huntari (“crowd”), the name of a body of men and its district.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in a law of 317 in the Theodosian Code, which names it beside the ranks of perfectissimus, ducēna and ēgregius as a dignity that certain men may not be admitted to.[4][1] There it is the rank of a centēnārius.[4][1][6]

Semantic evolution

In the Theodosian Code it was a grade in the imperial service, and Du Cange describes it as the rank in the corps of agentēs in rēbus next below its chief.[4][6] The law of the Visigoths uses it for a company of a hundred soldiers, whose centēnārius must not desert it.[4][3]

Among the Franks it named a body of men responsible for public order and the district it covered:[3][4] a decree of King Chlotar, as the TLL quotes it, orders that centēnae be formed, and that whoever has lost something in a centēna should have it restored there.[4][6] Du Cange concluded from this that the centēnae were first set up against thieves.[6] Later the word meant the district under the court of a hundred, a subdivision of the county like the vicāria, and the office and jurisdiction of the centēnārius;[3][2] in Lorraine it named a local jurisdiction of public origin, and on royal estates a unit of administration.[3][6] Charters place villages in such districts: Du Cange quotes the chronicle of Fontenelle for a villa in centēnā Alanciōnēnsī.[6]

It was also a weight of a hundred pounds, a hundredweight,[2][7][6] and a hundred of a commodity: a charter of 1278 from Pomerania speaks of a hundred of timber and of grain.[8]

Timeline

  • 317 AD – A law in the Theodosian Code names the rank of centēna.[4][1]
  • 596 – A Frankish capitulary uses it, according to Köbler.[2]
  • 1090 – A diploma of a bishop of Metz grants rights of bannum and centēna.[6]
  • 1278 – A Pomeranian charter uses it for a hundred of timber and of grain.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) The rank of centēnārius in the imperial service.[4][1][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A company of a hundred soldiers; an army division.[4][3][2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A body of men charged with keeping public order, and the district in which it acted.[3][4]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A hundred, a district under the jurisdiction of a hundred court, a subdivision of the county.[3][6][2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The office and jurisdiction of a centēnārius; a local jurisdiction.[3][6]
  6. (Medieval Latin) An administrative unit on royal estates.[3]
  7. (Medieval Latin) A hundredweight, a weight of a hundred pounds; a hundred (of a commodity).[2][7][6][8]
  8. (Medieval Latin) A group of labourers.[3]

Usage notes

The TLL and the DMLBS treat it as a use of the adjective centēnus, and the Theodosian Code also has it as an adjective in centēna dignitās.[4][9] The derivative centēnārius names the man who held the rank or led the centēna.[4][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
  8. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  9. ^ 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