Etymologically
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episcopus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛˈpɪs.kɔ.pʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈpis.ko.pus][1]

Forms

episcopus m (genitive episcopī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”),[1][2][3] from ἐπί (epí, “over”) and σκοπός (skopós, “watcher, guardian”),[1][4] which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).[4][5] In Greek it was a title for various officials before the Church took it over.[4]

Ancient writers explained it with Latin words: Eucherius and Isidore render it speculātor (“watchman”) and superinspector, Isidore also superintendēns, and Augustine superintentor and vīsitātor.[3] Augustine also remarks that the name is Greek and stands for a burden rather than an honour.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero writes the word in Greek letters in a letter to Atticus: Pompey wanted him to be the overseer of the whole Campanian coast, to whom the levy and the main business would be referred.[6][3][2] As a Latin word it appears in Tertullian, writing between about 160 and 220,[5] for the bishop of a Christian community: among heretics, he says, one man is bishop today and another tomorrow.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In a wider sense it meant an overseer or superintendent.[2][3] The jurist Arcadius Charisius uses it of officials in charge of bread and other goods on sale,[3][8] and an inscription names an episcopus Nicaensium.[3][9] In the Old Latin Bible and the Vulgate it is used of Jewish priests (an episcopus Levitarum), of the leaders of the early Christian communities, where it can stand beside presbyter as a synonym, and of Christ as “shepherd and bishop of your souls”.[3]

From Tertullian and Cyprian on, its strict sense is the Christian bishop who governs a diocese,[3][10] the sense that the Romance languages continue in Italian vescovo, French évêque and Spanish obispo.[3][1] Other borrowings are Proto-West Germanic *biskop and Old Church Slavonic бискоупъ (biskupŭ);[1] Old English had bisceop for a bishop or a high priest.[4]

Medieval Latin also used it of an abbot or provost,[11] of the head of a Jewish community,[11] and of the boy elected as “bishop” by schoolchildren at festivals.[11][12] The pope could be called episcopus Romanus or episcopus episcoporum.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for the Christian bishop.[3][5]
  • beginning of the 3rd century–258 AD – Cyprian writes of the ordination of bishops.[3]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of a bishop.[2][8][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the leaders of the first churches and of Christ.[3][2]
  • 533 AD – The Digest preserves Arcadius Charisius' use of it for market overseers.[3][9][5]
  • 742 – Boniface writes that he has ordained three bishops for the peoples of Germany.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An overseer, superintendent.[2][3]
  2. (law) An official in charge of the bread and other goods on sale, a market inspector.[3][8][9]
  3. (Late Latin) An overseer among the Jewish priests and Levites.[3]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A leader of an early Christian community; of Christ, the guardian of souls.[3]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A bishop, the head of a diocese.[2][3][10][14]
  6. (Medieval Latin) An abbot or provost; the head of a Jewish community.[11]
  7. (Medieval Latin) The “boy bishop” elected by schoolchildren at festivals.[11][12]

Word family

  • English bishop
  • English episcopal

Usage notes

The TLL notes that poets and more polished writers preferred synonyms,[3] and Georges gives Christianae legis antistes as the purely Latin expression for a bishop.[9]

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  11. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  12. ^ a b c Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill