fiscus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɪs.kʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfis.kus]^[1]

Forms

fiscus m (genitive fiscī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.^[2][3][4] De Vaan rejects connections with findō “to split” and fidēlia “earthen pot”, according to Wiktionary.^[1] Köbler compares Proto-Indo-European *bʰidʰ- (“vessel”), and Döderlein Ancient Greek πίθος (píthos, “jar”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Lucilius, whom he dates c. 180–102 BC.^[5] The OLD's earliest citation is from Cicero, of a money bag.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a basket of twigs or rushes, used in Columella for pressing olives, and far more often a basket for money, a money bag, as in Cicero.^[2][7][8] Under the Empire it meant the emperor's treasury, as distinct from the public aerārium, as in Seneca, with special departments, as in Suetonius.^[2] Döderlein cites Tacitus on Sejanus' goods taken from the treasury to be gathered into the fiscus.^[6] Isidore calls it the public purse into which tax collectors put what is paid to kings.^[9]

Medieval Latin used it for the king's property, a royal estate or group of estates and its centre.^[10] British Medieval Latin used it for the royal treasury and royal revenues.^[11] Late Latin fiscālis gave English fiscal in the 1560s through French.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a money bag.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the imperial treasury.^[2][5]
• 1560s – English fiscal is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A basket for pressing olives.^[2]
2. A money bag.^[2]
3. The imperial treasury; a revenue department.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) Royal property; a royal estate.^[10]

Word family

• fiscālis
• fiscellus
• fiscina
• suffiscus
• cōnfiscō
• fiscārius
• fiscella

Related words

• English fiscal
• English confiscate

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from aerārium, the public treasury.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c 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 c Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ 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