Etymologically
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foedus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfoe̯.dʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɛː.dus][1]

Forms

foedus n (genitive foederis); third declension[1] Poets often use the plural in a singular sense.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *feiðos (“faithful”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ-os, from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to trust”) of fidēs, fīdō and fīdus.[1][2][3][4][5] The old forms confirm the diphthong: Ennius wrote fidus for it, and the Salian hymn had a genitive plural foidesum.[2][3] Köbler too derives it from the verb “to trust”.[5] It is unrelated to the adjective foedus “foul”; see Usage notes.[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is attested from Ennius,[5] who has a king say “give and receive a pledge and strike a firm treaty”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was a formal agreement between states, a treaty of peace or alliance, and Livy distinguishes the foedus aequum, between equals, from the foedus iniquum, which recognised one party as superior, and poets used it of a truce.[2][3] The fetial priests concluded treaties, and to break one (foedus rumpere, violare) was a crime.[3][7]

It then meant a compact between private persons, such as Cicero's “compact of wise men”, the bond of marriage or of other unions, a tie of friendship, kinship or hospitality, and a law of nature or fate, as in Lucretius' “by what law of nature” a magnet attracts iron.[2] Christian Latin used it for the biblical covenant, and arca foederis is the Ark of the Covenant;[1][5][8] medieval Latin added a written record, and a rite or ceremony.[9][5] The adjective foederātus gave French fédéral and English federal, a theological term in the 1640s before its political sense.[4][1]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of striking a treaty.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of treaties, of a private compact and of the law of nature.[2][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of the marriage bond.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a law of nature.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy explains the kinds of treaty and uses it of a tie of hospitality.[2][5]
  • 7th century – The Visigothic law has a medieval sense.[5]
  • 1640s – English Federal is formed from it in English.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A treaty between states, a league, an alliance; a truce.[2][3]
  2. A compact between private persons; a promise.[2]
  3. The bond of marriage or of another union.[2]
  4. A tie of friendship, kinship or hospitality.[2]
  5. A law or limit set by nature or fate.[2]
  6. (Christian Latin) A covenant, as in arca foederis, the Ark of the Covenant.[1][5][8]
  7. (Medieval Latin) A written record; a rite, a ceremony.[9][5]

Word family

  • foederō
  • foedifragus
  • confoedustus
  • foederātus

Usage notes

The adjective foedus “foul, loathsome, shameful” is a different word, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *bʰiH- (“to be afraid”), with an original sense “frightful”; it survives in Italian fedo, Portuguese feio and Spanish feo “ugly”.[6][1][2] Döderlein distinguishes foedus, a mutual security on the ground of a sacred contract, from societās, a joint undertaking on the ground of a mere agreement.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper