Etymologically
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familia

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [faˈmɪ.li.a][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [faˈmiː.li.a][1]

Forms

familia f (genitive familiae or familiās); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fameliā (“household”), from an adjective “of the house”, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁-m-elo- (“foundation”), from the root *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place”).[2][1] Rix explains famulus “servant” as a back-formation from it.[2]

Compare Oscan famelo (“household”),[2][3] Ancient Greek θεμέλιος (themélios, “of the foundation”) and Sanskrit धामन् (dhā́man, “dwelling place, law”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Laws of the Twelve Tables (c. 450 BC).[2][4] In Plautus the household god is called “Lar, father of the household”.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant everyone under the control of the head of a house, relatives, freedmen and slaves, and especially the slaves of a household, as Cicero's large household of craftsmen and handsome slaves.[5] A familia was also a gang of slaves employed for a purpose, or a personal retinue.[5][1]

It meant a family related by blood, as Plautus' “so brave a family”, and a school of philosophy, as Cicero's Peripateticorum familia.[5] In law it was the estate.[5] The old genitive survived in pater familias, “head of the household”.[5][6] In Medieval Latin it was the body of serfs or dependants of a lord.[4] English family was borrowed in the early 15th century, first meaning the servants of a household.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a household and a family.[5][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a gang of slaves.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a school of philosophy.[5][4]
  • early 15th century – English family is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A household (relations, freedmen and slaves).[5][1]
  2. The slaves of a household, servants.[5][1]
  3. A gang of slaves; a retinue.[5][1]
  4. A family, kin.[5][1]
  5. A school (of philosophy).[5][1]
  6. (law) An estate.[5][1]
  7. (Medieval Latin) The serfs or dependants of a lord.[4]

Word family

  • familiāris
  • familiola
  • māterfamiliās
  • familiāriter
  • familiārēscō
  • familiāricus
  • familiāritās
  • famula
  • famulanter
  • famulātiō
  • famulātus
  • famulitium
  • famulō
  • famulor
  • English family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com