Etymologically
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centumvir

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɛnˈtʊm.wɪr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃenˈtum.vir][1]

Forms

centumvir m (genitive centumvirī); second declension[1] It is chiefly plural, centumvirī, also written as two words or abbreviated Cvirī.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin centum (“hundred”) + vir (“man”).[1][4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[4] who mentions the court in the De oratore and in his speech for Caecina.[3]

Semantic evolution

The centumvirī were a court at Rome that settled civil cases, especially those about inheritance.[2][3] It first had 105 members, three from each tribe, and was later enlarged, to 180 under the emperors according to Lewis & Short.[2][3] Quintilian, Suetonius and Pliny the Younger refer to it often.[3] Similar courts are recorded in inscriptions at Perusia and Veii.[3][2] In a medieval charter of 1198 a centumvir is a town councillor.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the centumviral court.[3][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian.[3][4]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius.[3][4]
  • 1198 – A town councillor in a charter.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (usually plural) A member of the centumvirī, a Roman court for civil cases, especially of inheritance.[2][3][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A town councillor.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de