famulatus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [fa.mʊˈɫaː.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fa.muˈlaː.tus]^[1]

Forms

famulātus m (genitive famulātūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin famulus (“servant, slave”) + -ātus, or from famulor “to serve”.^[2][3][1] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨famulus⟩ as Proto-Italic *famelos (“slave”), with Oscan ⟨famelo⟩ and Umbrian ⟨fameřias⟩ “household”; following Rix he takes it as a back-formation to ⟨*famelia⟩ “household”, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁-m-elo- (“foundation”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Cicero, and Lewis & Short cite his Laelius, in famulātū esse “to be in servitude”.^[5][3] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the condition of a slave, servitude, slavery, and servility, rare but classical, as in Cicero.^[2][3][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means service, obedience, slavery.^[7] Medieval Latin used it for allegiance to the king and for vassalage.^[8] British Medieval Latin used it for personal or domestic service, a household, serfdom and the service of God.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Servitude, slavery; servility.^[2][3]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Service, obedience.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Allegiance; vassalage.^[8]

Related words

• famulus
• famulor
• familia

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ 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