commentarius

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [kɔm.mɛnˈtaː.ri.ʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kom.menˈtaː.ri.us]^[1]

Forms

commentārius m (genitive commentāriī or commentārī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from commentum “invention” or commentor “to study, write”, with the suffix -ārius, ultimately from comminīscor “to devise”.^[2][1][3][4] A neuter ⟨commentārium⟩ is also found, as in Varro and Cicero.^[2][5] Isidore explains it as if ⟨cum mente⟩ “with the mind”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero, of a notebook and a journal.^[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a notebook, private journal, a historical record, and in Varro a public register kept by magistrates or priests, ā commentāriīs its keeper.^[2][5] In Cicero it meant a treatise, notes, a memorandum, as his nōn est ōrātiō, sed ōrātiōnis commentārium “not a speech but the notes of a speech”, and in Suetonius an explanatory commentary.^[2][6]

Medieval Latin used it for a notary.^[7] British Medieval Latin used it for a commentary and a register.^[8] Medieval Latin commentārius “notebook, annotation” gave English commentary in the early 15th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a public register.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of notes for a speech.^[2][6][4]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a commentary.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – English commentary is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A notebook, journal; a historical record.^[2]
2. A public register.^[2]
3. A treatise; a commentary.^[2]
4. Notes, a memorandum.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) A notary.^[7]

Word family

• commentāriolum

Related words

• commentor
• commentum
• English commentary

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com