donativum

Forms

dōnātīvum n (genitive dōnātīvī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter, used as a noun, of an adjective from Latin dōnō (“to give, present”) + -īvus.^[2][1][3] De Vaan derives dōnō from dōnum “gift”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL and Köbler find it from Tacitus on.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a sum of money given by the emperor to each soldier on an occasion of public rejoicing, at his accession or majority or another special occasion;^[2][6] Tacitus and Suetonius use it, and it is contrasted with the congiarium given to the people.^[2][6] Wiktionary notes a rare use for a gratuity to soldiers at a triumph in the Republic, and a Church Latin sense of a gift.^[1] Köbler finds it in a charter of 912.^[5] English donative as a noun, “a gift”, dates from the mid-15th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 98–115 AD – Tacitus.^[3][6][5]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius.^[6][5]
• 912 – in a charter.^[5]
• mid-15th century – English donative, a gift.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A donative, a gratuity given by the emperor to each soldier.^[2][6][1]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A gift.^[1]

Related words

• dōnō
• dōnātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com