exercitus

Forms

exercitus m (genitive exercitūs); fourth declension^[1] Naevius and Accius have the genitive exercitī; the dative is exercitū or exercituī.^[2]

Etymology

It is from exerceō “to exercise, train” with the suffix -tus.^[2][1] Isidore explains it as a host named from the exercise of war.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Naevius, of an army.^[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus it meant physical exercise, exertion, and in Naevius a military force, an army or a fleet.^[2] In Varro it was used of the centuriate assembly, the people in its military order.^[2] Döderlein explains that exercitus is an army of several legions, while cōpiae are troops of several cohorts.^[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a host, an army.^[6] Medieval Latin used it for the host, a military expedition of a kingdom's warriors.^[7] It survives in Italian esercito and Spanish ejército.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of an army.^[2][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of exercise.^[2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the centuriate assembly.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Exercise, exertion.^[2]
2. An army; a fleet.^[2]
3. The centuriate assembly.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A military expedition.^[7]

Word family

• exercitualis

Related words

• exerceō
• exercitium

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from cōpiae.^[5] The participle exercitus means trained, practised, and harassed.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill