certamen

Forms

certāmen n (genitive certāminis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin certō (“to contend, strive”) + -men.^[2][1] certō is from cernō (“to sift, decide”),^[3] whose old past participle certus (“decided”) goes back to ⟨*kritos⟩; de Vaan derives the verb from Proto-Italic *krin-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *krei- (“to sift, separate”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,^[3] who has nunc … specimen specitur, nunc certāmen cernitur, “now the proof is seen, now the contest is decided”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Certāmen is competition and rivalry, a hostile contest, a fight or battle (Cicero of a naval battle), and a sporting, musical or other contest (Virgil: et certāmen erat, Corydōn cum Thyrside, magnum, “and there was a great contest, Corydon against Thyrsis”).^[2][5][1] It is also a dispute or quarrel (Livy: certāmine accēnsō, “the quarrel flaring up”) and a point in dispute, the Greek κρινόμενον of rhetoric.^[2] Wiktionary adds the prize contended for.^[1]

Church Latin glosses it “fight, struggle, strife, contest”.^[6] In Medieval Latin certāmen singulāre is a duel, and the word can also mean “care, solicitude”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: nunc certāmen cernitur.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a naval battle.^[2][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil: certāmen erat … magnum.^[2][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy: certāmine accēnsō.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Competition, rivalry.^[2][5]
2. A fight, battle, combat.^[2][1][6]
3. A contest (in sport, music etc.); games.^[2][1][6]
4. A dispute, quarrel.^[2]
5. A point in dispute.^[2]
6. A prize contended for.^[1]
7. (Medieval Latin) certāmen singulāre: a duel; care, solicitude.^[7]

Related words

• certābundus
• certātim
• certātiō
• certātīvē
• certātor
• certātus
• certō
• certor
• cernō
• certus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill