Etymologically
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fratellus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fraːˈtɛl.lʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [fraˈtɛl.lus][1]

Forms

frātellus m (genitive frātellī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin frāter (“brother”) + -lus (“diminutive suffix”).[2][1][3] Conte gives it as the source of Italian fratello (“brother”), in spoken Latin.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The grammarian Scaurus, whom Köbler dates to the first half of the 2nd century AD, has it for a little brother.[5][6][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a rare diminutive, “little brother”.[2][5] Wiktionary glosses it simply as “brother”, the sense of its descendants Italian fratello, Corsican fratellu and Venetian fradelo.[1][4]

Timeline

  • 1st half of the 2nd century AD – The grammarian Scaurus uses it for a little brother.[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A little brother.[2][5][3]
  2. A brother.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Jeanneau, Gérard; Woitrain, Jean-Paul; Hassid, Jean-Claude (2017), Dictionnaire latin-français, online ed., prima-elementa.fr