Etymologically
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communitas

Etymology and origin of the Latin word communitas

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (commūnis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɔmˈmuː.nɪ.taːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [komˈmuː.ni.tas][1]

Forms

commūnitās f (genitive commūnitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from commūnis “common, shared” with the suffix -tās.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero, of sharing and of fellowship.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant joint possession or use, sharing, and social relationship, fellowship, as Cicero's “no fellowship of man with god”, and an organized society, and Lewis and Short call it very frequent in Cicero, rare elsewhere.[2][5] In Varro it meant a common nature, kinship, and in Nepos obligingness.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant commonwealth, community.[6] Medieval Latin used it of property held by a religious community, of a society of stockbreeders and of common land.[7] English community came in the late 14th century through Old French comunité.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of fellowship and society.[2][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of kinship.[2][4]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it of obligingness.[2][4]
  • late 14th century – English community is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Joint possession, sharing, partnership.[2]
  2. Fellowship; an organized society, community.[2]
  3. Common nature, kinship.[2]
  4. Obligingness.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Common property; common land.[7]

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 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b 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

“Communitas.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/communitas. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·