Etymologically
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classicus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɫas.sɪ.kʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈklas.si.kus][1]

Forms

classicus (feminine classica, neuter classicum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin classis (“class; fleet”) + -icus.[2][1] Varro derived it from classis, and Servius explains the trumpet signal classicum from the same word.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gellius quotes Cato the Elder for the rule that classici were only the men of the first class, not all who were in the five classes.[4][2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant belonging to the highest class of citizens, and testes classici were witnesses of that class in Festus.[2][4] Gellius used it figuratively of a writer of the first rank, classicus adsiduusque aliquis scriptor, non proletarius, “some first-class and substantial writer, not a proletarian”.[4][6] A classicus was also the trumpeter who called the centuries to the assembly.[2][7]

From classis “fleet” it meant naval, as classici milites “marines” in Livy, and the neuter classicum was the trumpet signal for battle or assembly.[2][4] Medieval Latin kept the senses “warlike”, “for hunting” and the horn signal, and later “pre-eminent”, as of Augustine as an eagle among classic doctors.[8][9] New Latin used it of what is exemplary of its class.[1] English classic came through French in the 1610s.[10]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder uses it of the first class of citizens.[4][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses classici of marines.[2][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius speaks of a classicus scriptor.[4][5]
  • 1610s – English classic is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the highest class of citizens, (figurative) first-rate, classic.[2][4]
  2. Of the fleet, naval.[2][1]
  3. Of a trumpet call.[2]

Noun

  1. A trumpeter who summoned the assembly by centuries.[2]
  2. (plural) Marines, sailors.[2][5]

Word family

  • classicum

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 j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com