Etymologically
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coniunx

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔn.juːŋks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔn.juŋks][1]

Forms

coniūnx m or f (genitive coniugis); third declension[1] The form coniux is also common, and inscriptions have coiux and coius.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from con- “together” and the root of iugum “yoke” and iungō “to join”.[2][1] Its root is Proto-Indo-European ⟨*yewg-⟩ “to join”.[4] The OLD and Wiktionary compare Ancient Greek σύζυγος (súzugos, “yoked together; spouse”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation for “husband” is from Plautus, whom Köbler dates c. 250–184 BC.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a marriage partner, a husband or a wife, and Accius uses it of a wife or bride, and it was also used of a concubine.[2] Ovid uses it of the mate of an animal, Columella of the elm that partners a vine, and Apuleius of a fellow worker.[2]

Bede and other British Medieval Latin writers used it for a husband or wife.[5] It was borrowed into Italian coniuge and Spanish cónyuge.[1] Its adjective coniugālis gave English conjugal in the 1540s.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a husband.[2][4]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of a wife.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of animals.[2][4]
  • 1540s – English conjugal is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A spouse, husband or wife.[2]
  2. (of animals) A mate.[2]
  3. A fellow worker.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com