Etymologically
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danista

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [daˈniːs.ta][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [daˈnis.ta][1]

Forms

danīsta m (genitive danīstae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δανειστής (daneistḗs, “moneylender, creditor”),[2][3][1][4] from δανείζω (daneízō, “to lend at interest”) and δάνος (dános, “loan”).[5] Köbler connects them with Proto-Indo-European *dā- (“to divide”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found only in Plautus,[3][5] who writes in the Epidicus of money borrowed at interest from a moneylender.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is a word of Plautus' comedies for the moneylender or usurer, used by Plautus in the Epidicus, the Mostellaria and the Pseudolus;[3][4] the ordinary Latin word was fēnerātor, which Paulus' epitome of Festus uses to explain it.[3][4] Plautus also has the adjective danīsticus, for the moneylending kind of people.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in several comedies.[3][4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A moneylender, usurer, creditor.[2][3][1]

Word family

  • danīsticus
  • fēnerātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de