Etymologically
Log in

curiatus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 00:49. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kuː.riˈaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ku.riˈaː.tus][1]

Forms

cūriātus (feminine cūriāta, neuter cūriātum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Inscriptions also have cūriātius.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin cūria + -ātus.[2][3] De Vaan reports that cūria is mostly explained as *ko-wir-ijā, an assembly of men, from vir (“man”), and notes that the development must be older than the usual ⟨con-⟩ before ⟨v⟩.[4] Festus derived the name of the assembly from the curiae.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero, who writes in his speeches on the agrarian law about the curiate assembly and the law it passed.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The comitia cūriāta was the assembly in which the Roman people voted by curiae.[2][6] Lewis & Short describe it as originally the only ruling assembly, later limited by the centuriate assembly to adoptions, the choice of priests and the conferring of command.[6] A lēx cūriāta was a law passed by it, and the lictor cūriātus was the official who summoned it.[2] Livy and Gellius use the terms too.[6] Inscriptions have the form ⟨cūriātius⟩.[2]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the curiate assembly and its law.[6][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the curiate law.[6][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of the curiate assembly.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the cūriae;[2][6][3][1] comitia cūriāta, the assembly of the people voting by curiae;[2][6][3][1] lēx cūriāta, a law passed by it;[2][6][3][1] lictor cūriātus, the lictor who summoned it.[2][6][3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press