convivalis

Forms

convīvālis (neuter convīvāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1] Curtius has the form convīviālis, which is also a variant reading in Livy and Macrobius.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin convīva (“guest”) + -ālis.^[4][3][5] Lewis & Short connect it instead with convīvium (“dinner party”).^[2] De Vaan lists both nouns among the derivatives of vīvō (“to live”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃-ue/o- (“to live”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Livy,^[7] who uses it of entertainments at banquets.^[3][2] Lewis & Short note that it is rare and not found before Augustus.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means belonging to a feast or dinner party: Tacitus speaks of fabulae convivales, table talk, Curtius of games at a feast, Seneca the Elder of jokes at table, and other writers of banqueting couches, garments and vessels.^[8][9] Prudentius has a song for the table, Macrobius table conversation.^[8] In medieval charters denarii convivales were money paid in place of a meal,^[10] and British writers used it of festive good cheer.^[11] English convivial comes from the variant convīviālis.^[12]

Timeline

• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of entertainments at banquets.^[3][7]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus speaks of fabulae convivales.^[9][7]
• 1202 – A charter from Utrecht mentions denarii convivales, meal money.^[10][7]
• 1660s – English borrows convivial.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or for a feast or dinner party, festal, convivial.^[4][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) denarii convivales: money paid in place of a meal.^[10]

Related words

• English convivial

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com