Etymologically
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ferentarius

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɛ.rɛnˈtaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [fe.renˈtaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

ferentārius m (genitive ferentāriī or ferentārī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2] It is perhaps from Latin ferō (“to carry”): de Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that verb,[3] and the TLL accepts no other origin.[2] The OLD prefers a stem ferent- of feriō (“to strike”), formed as parēns is from pariō, with the suffix -ārius.[4] Wiktionary, after Pokorny, traces it to Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce, strike”),[1] and Köbler hesitates between both verbs.[5]

Ancient scholars derived it from the verb “carry”: Varro says that these horsemen had only weapons that were thrown, such as the javelin, and Paulus' epitome of Festus that they fought with slings and stones, weapons that are thrown, not held.[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it in the Trinummus of a friend, “ferentarium amicum”,[6][2] which Lewis and Short explain as a friend ready to help.[6]

Semantic evolution

It was mainly a military word for light troops who fought with missile weapons.[4][6] Varro says he had seen such horsemen painted in the old temple of Aesculapius with the name ferentarii written beside them.[2] Sallust uses it of the troops who could open the battle,[6] Tacitus has the collective singular beside the heavy soldier,[6] and Vegetius places them among the infantry, with the slingers, on the wings, where they began the fight and were chosen from the swiftest and best-trained men.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it figuratively in the Trinummus.[6][2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro explains the word and describes the ferentarii.[6][2][5]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of light troops opening a battle.[6][5]
  • AD 98–115 – Tacitus uses the collective singular.[6][5]
  • c. 400 AD – Vegetius describes their place in the line.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (military) A light-armed soldier who fought with missile weapons, a skirmisher.[4][6]
  2. (figurative) A friend ready to help.[6]
  • rorarius

Usage notes

Varro, quoting the passage of Plautus, explains ferentarium there as empty and without fruit,[2] while Lewis and Short take it as a friend ready to assist.[6] Lewis and Short give rōrāriī as a synonym.[6]

References

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