Etymologically
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gladius

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɡɫa.di.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɡlaː.di.us][1]

Forms

gladius m (genitive gladiī or gladī); second declension[1] A neuter gladium is found in Lucilius and Varro.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Proto-Celtic *kladio- (“sword”), or a borrowing of the same word from a third language: de Vaan points to the close match with the Celtic words for “sword”, the imperfect match of the first consonant, and the field of weaponry, where loanwords are common.[2] The OLD calls it Celtic, and Wiktionary suggests a Gaulish source.[3][1] Köbler and Wiktionary trace the Celtic word further to Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to strike, break”).[5][1]

Compare Welsh cleddyf (“sword”), Cornish clethe (“sword”) and Old Irish claideb (“sword”), which is itself a loan from Welsh.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[2] who has quid opus gladiō? — quī hunc occīdam, “what do you need a sword for? — to kill this man”.[3] Ennius has succinctī gladiīs, “girt with swords”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Gladius is a sword, and by extension the use of the sword in war, the gladiator's trade, death by the sword, and a man with a sword.[3][1] Pliny the Elder uses it of the swordfish.[3][1] Its derivatives include gladiātor, a swordsman, from Cato on.[2]

In Church Latin it is “sword”.[6] In Medieval Latin the sword is a symbol of justice;[7] gladius spīrituālis is spiritual jurisdiction, and gladius ōris an anathema, excommunication.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: quid opus gladiō?.[3][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: succinctī gladiīs.[3][5]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius has the neuter gladium.[3][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the swordfish.[3][5]
  • Middle Ages – gladius spīrituālis, spiritual jurisdiction.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sword.[3][4][1][6]
  2. Fighting with the sword; the gladiatorial profession; death by the sword, murder.[3][1]
  3. An armed man.[3]
  4. A swordfish.[3][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The sword as a symbol of justice;[7] gladius spīrituālis, spiritual jurisdiction.[7]

Word family

  • dīgladior
  • gladiārius
  • gladiātor
  • gladiolus
  • gladiātōriē
  • gladiātōrium
  • gladiātūra
  • glāvus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill