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frumentarius

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word frumentarius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (frūmentum)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin frumentum
Latin frumentarius

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fruː.mɛnˈtaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [fru.menˈtaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

frūmentārius (feminine frūmentāria, neuter frūmentārium); first/second-declension adjective[1] As a noun: frūmentārius m (genitive frūmentāriī); second declension.[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin frūmentum (“grain, corn”) + -ārius.[2][1] Köbler connects ⟨frūmentum⟩ with fruor (“to enjoy”).[3] The noun is the adjective used of a person.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Pseudolus, of corn dealers: amīca es frūmentāriīs, “you are a friend to the corn merchants”, who all have huge heaps of grain at home.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it is “of corn”: Cato has the corn accounts and corn-producing land, and rēs frūmentāria is the grain supply or provisions of an army or a city, as Cicero's fear and shortage of corn.[2][4] A lēx frūmentāria is a law on the distribution of cheap or free corn, as that of Gaius Gracchus.[2]

As a noun it is first a corn dealer, then in the army a soldier sent out to find corn, a forager (Hirtius), and later a member of a special corps used as couriers and agents.[2][1] In Medieval Latin it is the officer in charge of a manor's granary.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of corn dealers.[2][3]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of corn accounts and corn land.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the corn supply and the corn law of Gaius Gracchus.[2][3]
  • c. 50 BC – Hirtius of foragers.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of corn or grain; corn-producing.[2][1]
  2. rēs frūmentāria: the corn supply, provisions.[2][4]
  3. Relating to the distribution of corn, lēx frūmentāria, a corn law.[2]

Noun

  1. A corn dealer, grain merchant.[2][1]
  2. (military) A forager; a member of the corps of frūmentāriī, couriers and agents.[2][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The keeper of a manor's granary.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Frumentarius.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/frumentarius. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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