Etymologically
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coronarius

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 21:17. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔ.roːˈnaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ko.roˈnaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

corōnārius (feminine corōnāria, neuter corōnārium); first/second-declension adjective[1] Inscriptions have a nominative plural coronaries and the spelling choronarius.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin corōna (“garland, crown”) + -ārius (“adjective suffix”).[2][1] The noun is a borrowing of Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē), a Greek word for several curved or hooked things, among them a kind of crown.[1] The noun “garland maker” is the masculine adjective used as a noun.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Cicero,[5] who quotes a land bill that speaks of aurum corōnārium, the gold that provinces and towns presented to a victorious general in place of a golden crown.[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

Aurum corōnārium was the most frequent use: Augustus records in his Res gestae that he remitted thirty-five thousand pounds of such gold offered by the towns of Italy for his triumphs,[2][3] and under the emperors it became a levy paid on occasions such as an emperor's accession.[4][6] Vitruvius applied opus corōnārium both to the making of a golden crown and to stucco work on vaults,[4][6] and Pliny the Elder used the adjective of anemones grown for garlands and of a thin copper sheet that gave the crowns of actors the look of gold.[2][4]

As a noun it named a maker or seller of garlands, in Pliny, Fronto and inscriptions,[2][3] and the feminine corōnāria a woman of that trade.[4][6] Medieval writers used the adjective of crowns and coronations,[7] and English records of the early 13th century use corōnārius for a coroner.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero quotes a bill that mentions aurum corōnārium.[2][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the making of a crown and of stucco work.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of garland flowers and, as a noun, of garland makers.[2][5]
  • 365 AD – A law of the Theodosian Code deals with the crown gold owed by town councillors.[3]
  • 1203 – An English court record uses corōnāriī for coroners.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Connected with crowns or garlands or their making.[2][4]
  2. Used for making garlands or crowns (of flowers, metal).[2][4]
  3. aurum corōnārium: gold given to a victorious general in place of a crown; later a tax paid to the emperor.[2][4][6]
  4. (architecture) Of a cornice; of stucco work.[2][4]

Noun

  1. A maker or seller of garlands or crowns.[2][4][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A coroner.[8]

Word family

  • corōnāria

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c 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