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commeatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word commeatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂mey-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔm.meˈaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kom.meˈaː.tus][1]

Forms

commeātus m (genitive commeātūs); fourth declension[1] It is also spelled conmeātus.[2] The Bellum Africum has the dative commeātuī, the Bellum Alexandrinum commeātū.[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin commeō (“to go back and forth”) + -tus, an action noun.[4][1][3] commeō is con- with meō (“to go, pass”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *mejo- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂mey- (“to change, exchange”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[5][6] who uses it for a passage: perfōdī parietem quā commeātus clam esset hinc hūc mulierī, “I dug through the wall so that the woman could secretly pass from there to here”.[4]

Semantic evolution

Commeātus is first a coming and going, a free passage.[4][2] From the traffic of supplies it came to mean a convoy of ships or wagons (Caesar), the goods carried, a cargo (Livy), and above all supplies and provisions, especially for an army (Plautus).[4][1] It is also leave of absence from duty, a furlough (Cicero: he stayed on leave at Syracuse).[4][1]

In medieval Latin it kept the sense “leave”, and also meant a respite from martyrdom and a dismissal.[7] English congee (mid-14th century), “leave to depart”, comes from its medieval sense through Old French congié.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: quā commeātus clam esset.[4][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: in commeātū Syrācūsīs remānserit.[4][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of convoys that could not reach the camp.[4][6]
  • mid-14th century – English congee.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Coming and going, passage.[4][2]
  2. A convoy.[4][1]
  3. Goods, cargo.[4][1]
  4. Supplies, provisions.[4][1]
  5. Leave of absence, furlough.[4][1][7]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A respite (from martyrdom); dismissal.[7]

Word family

  • commeatalis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b 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 h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Commeatus.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/commeatus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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