Etymologically
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commentarius

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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