Etymologically
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custos

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkʊs.toːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkus.tos][1]

Forms

custōs m or f (genitive custōdis); third declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unclear.[1][2] The OLD compares Ancient Greek κεύθω (keúthō, “to hide”), Old English hȳdan (“to hide”) and Welsh cuddio (“to hide”), and Köbler Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover”).[3][4] The most accepted view, Nowicki's, reported by Wiktionary, is a compound ⟨*kusto-sd-⟩ “who sits by the treasure”, with a first element akin to Proto-Germanic *huzdą (“hoard”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Twelve Tables, which he dates about 450 BC, and the OLD cites them for a guardian of minors.[4][3] The OLD also cites Ennius for a guardian.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a guardian, protector, custōs corporis a bodyguard, a legal guardian of minors or the insane, and in Virgil a herdsman.[3] From Plautus it meant one who guards a thing, a doorkeeper, watchman, and in Terence a sentry or garrison.[3][5] In Plautus it meant a jailer, in Cato an overseer, and in Varro an officer watching the voting at elections.[3] In Vitruvius it was the constellation Boötes, in Ovid a container, and in Cato a vine shoot kept in reserve.[3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant an attendant, guardian, watchman, overseer, and custōs martyrum a keeper of relics.[6] Medieval Latin used it for an abbot as administrator of a monastery's property.[7] English custos is a borrowing, and its derivative custōdia gave English custody in the mid-15th century.[1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it of a legal guardian.[3][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a guardian.[3][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a watchman and a jailer.[3][4]
  • mid-15th century – English custody is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A guardian, protector; a bodyguard; a herdsman.[3]
  2. A keeper, watchman; a sentry; a garrison.[3]
  3. A jailer; an overseer; an election officer.[3]
  4. The constellation Boötes.[3]
  5. A container; a guard; a reserve shoot.[3]
  6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) custōs martyrum, a keeper of relics.[6]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com