Etymologically
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contubernalis

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Forms

contubernālis m (genitive contubernālis); third declension[1] Inscriptions also have contibernalis.[2][3] Lucilius splits it in tmesis, conque tubernalem.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + taberna (“hut, booth”) + -ālis,[2][1] beside contubernium (“sharing a tent”).[4] De Vaan takes taberna as a derivative of trabs (“beam”) with the first /r/ lost by dissimilation, originally “wooden shed”, and rejects the doubts of Ernout and Meillet.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius already has it, split in tmesis;[2] Köbler's first source is Cicero.[6]

Semantic evolution

In the army it is a soldier sharing the same tent, a comrade-in-arms, and specifically a young man attached to a general's staff for training, as in Cicero's Brutus.[2][4] More generally it is someone living under the same roof, a housemate or intimate friend.[2][4] In law it is a slave's partner, living as husband or wife without that status, as in Columella.[2] In medieval Latin it means a peer, a person of the same legal status.[7] English contubernal “tent-mate” dates from 1842.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius has it in tmesis.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a general's young aide and of intimate friends.[2][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of a slave's partner.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (military) A tent-companion, comrade; a young man trained on a general's staff.[2][4][1]
  2. A housemate, intimate friend.[2][4]
  3. (law) A slave's partner.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A peer, someone of the same legal status.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com