Etymologically
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certamen

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɛrˈtaː.mɛn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃerˈtaː.men][1]

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]

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