forum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɔ.rũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɔː.rum]^[1]

Forms

forum n (genitive forī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fworo- (“room near the door”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuor-o- (“area at the door”).^[2] De Vaan traces the meaning from “area at the doors” to “vestibule”, then “public room” and “public square”.^[2] Cognate with Umbrian furo (“forum”), Lithuanian dvãras (“estate, court”) and Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍂 (daur, “gate”), and related to forīs “out of doors”.^[2][3][4] Walde and Hofmann took it as a fenced area, from forō “to bore”, but Pokorny rejected this; the OLD calls the origin doubtful.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from the Twelve Tables,^[2][6] which use it of the forecourt of a tomb.^[7][3] Köbler dates the Twelve Tables c. 450 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Cato it is also the place where fruit was laid out for pressing.^[2] Its main sense was the public square of a town, the market and centre of public life, and especially the Forum Romanum.^[5] The forum was the scene of business, banking (forō cēdere “to go bankrupt”), political assemblies, funeral speeches and trials, so it came to mean public life, the courts and the bar, and in the provinces an assize or an assize town.^[5] Many towns were named Forum with a qualifier, such as Forum Iūlii.^[7]

In medieval Latin it meant a court with jurisdiction over a matter, and iūs forī was secular law as opposed to church law.^[8] English forum was borrowed in the mid-15th century for the place of assembly in ancient Rome, and the sense “place for public discussion” dates from the 1680s.^[4] The word survives in Italian foro and Spanish fuero (“charter, jurisdiction”).^[1]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – the Twelve Tables use it of the forecourt of a tomb.^[7][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of the floor where fruit is pressed.^[2][6]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of a lover coming home from the forum.^[5][6]
• mid-15th century – English forum is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A public square, market place.^[5]
2. The Forum Romanum at Rome.^[5]
3. Public life, business, forō cēdere, to go bankrupt.^[5]
4. The courts, the bar; a court of law.^[5]
5. An assize; an assize town.^[5]
6. The forecourt of a tomb; the floor for pressing fruit.^[7][2]
7. (Medieval Latin) A jurisdiction, iūs forī, secular law.^[8]

Word family

• forēnsis
• forus

Related words

• foris
• English forum

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b 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 f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill