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decanus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word decanus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
343/350 AD, Firmicus Maternus
Ultimate origin
Latin decem
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin decem
French dix
Italian dieci
Latin decanus
From the same root
English decimate ← decem
Latin December ← decem
Latin decempeda ← decem
Latin deciens ← decem
Latin quattuordecim ← decem
Latin quindecim ← decem
Latin sedecim ← decem
Latin septendecim ← decem
Latin undecim ← decem

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɛˈkaː.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈkaː.nus][1]

Forms

decānus m (genitive decānī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin decem (“ten”) + -ānus,[1][2][3] that is, “one set over ten”.[2][4] The DMLBS compares the Greek δεκᾱνός (dekanós).[5] Ancient writers explained the name the same way: Isidore of Seville says the decani were so called because they were set over ten soldiers,[3] and Augustine that they were in charge of ten monks.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Georges cite it first from Firmicus Maternus (343/350 AD), as an astrological term for the chief of ten of the thirty parts of a sign of the zodiac.[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The word is Late Latin and means a chief of ten in several fields.[2][1] Vegetius describes the decani as men placed over ten soldiers, “who are now called heads of the tent group”;[3][2] Jerome and Augustine use it of a monk set over nine others,[3] and the Rule of Saint Benedict has deans appointed over the groups of monks.[7] The Vulgate uses it for the officers over ten appointed as judges,[2][3] and in the late empire it named a kind of officer at the imperial palace and the head of the corpse-bearers in Constantinople.[2][7][8]

Medieval Latin multiplied the offices it named: a commander of ten warriors, a minor public or manorial officer with police duties, the head of a mutual-aid association, a monastery official under the abbot, the dean of a chapter of canons, a rural dean, the master of a group of manorial craftsmen, the dean of a guild and a town beadle.[9][10] British sources also use it for a tithingman.[5] Through Old French deien the church title passed into English as dean.[11]

Timeline

  • 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus uses it in astrology for the chief of ten parts of a zodiacal sign.[2][6]
  • c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it of officers of the imperial palace.[8][7][6]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of a monk who is set over ten.[2][3][6]
  • c. 400 AD – Vegetius describes the decani as placed over ten soldiers.[2][3][6]
  • 529 AD – The Rule of Saint Benedict has deans appointed over the monks.[7][6]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name from the ten soldiers under each.[3][6]
  • 765/768 – A St Gall charter names a monk with the title.[10]
  • early 14th century – English borrows the church title, through Old French, as dean.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A chief of ten soldiers, a decurion.[2][8][12]
  2. (Late Latin) A monk set over ten others; a dean.[2][4][13]
  3. (Late Latin) One of the officers over ten appointed as judges.[2]
  4. (Late Latin) An officer of the imperial court.[2][8]
  5. (Late Latin) The head of the corpse-bearers.[2][4][12]
  6. (astrology) The ruler of a tenth part of a sign of the zodiac; a decan.[2][4][12]
  7. (Medieval Latin) A lower public or manorial officer with police duties.[9][10]
  8. (Medieval Latin) The dean of a chapter of canons; a rural dean.[9][10][7]
  9. (Medieval Latin) The head of a guild or of a group of craftsmen; a town beadle.[9]
  10. (Medieval Latin) A tithingman.[5]

Word family

  • decania
  • decanicum
  • English dean
  • English doyen

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 p Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  12. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  13. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Decanus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/decanus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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