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conviva

Etymology and origin of the Latin word conviva

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*gʷeyh₃-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɔnˈwiː.wa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koɱˈviː.va][1]

Forms

convīva m or f (genitive convīvae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from convīvō (“to live together, dine together”) with the agent suffix -a, from con- and vīvō (“to live”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨vīvō⟩ to Proto-Italic *gʷīwe/o- (“to live”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃-we/o- (“to live”), cognate with Oscan ⟨bivus⟩ “alive” and Sanskrit जीवति (jī́vati, “lives”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Plautus.[5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short read it literally as one who lives with another; in use it meant a table companion, a guest at a meal, man or woman, as in Cicero and Horace.[6][2][7]

Medieval Latin used convīva rēgis for a royal courtier, and British Medieval Latin used it also for a messmate.[8][9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A table companion, guest.[2][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) convīva rēgis: a royal courtier.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Conviva.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/conviva. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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