commilitium

Forms

commīlitium n (genitive commīlitiī or commīlitī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- (“together”) + mīles (“soldier”) + -ium,^[1][2] or, as the OLD puts it, from commīles (“fellow soldier”) with the suffix ⟨-ium⟩.^[3][4] De Vaan calls the first element of mīles unclear, though he finds a link with mīlia (“thousands”) tempting.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Ovid,^[6] who uses it of the fellowship of poets;^[3][7] Lewis and Short think it probably not used before the Augustan period.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Its proper sense was comradeship in war, association in military service: it is used by Velleius Paterculus, Quintilian, Tacitus, Florus, Justin and Pliny the Younger.^[7] Quintilian says of someone that he had served with Thessalians, and Tacitus has the Chauci taken into the alliance in arms.^[8][2]

The transferred sense of fellowship in general is rare:^[7] besides Ovid's sacred bond of poets, Manilius has it, and Apuleius speaks of a friendship begun in a fellowship of studies.^[3][2] In British medieval Latin William of Malmesbury used it collectively for a body of knights, a retinue.^[9]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the fellowship of poets.^[3][6]
• c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius Paterculus uses it of comradeship in war.^[7][6]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of serving alongside Thessalians.^[8][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of taking the Chauci into alliance.^[2][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius speaks of a fellowship of studies.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Association in military service, comradeship in war.^[3][7]
2. (transferred) Fellowship in other activities.^[3][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Knighthood as a body, a retinue of knights.^[9]

Related words

• commīlitō
• mīlitia

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b 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