Etymologically
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hereditarius

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [heː.reː.dɪˈtaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [e.re.diˈtaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

hērēditārius (feminine hērēditāria, neuter hērēditārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin hērēditās (“inheritance”) + -ārius.[2][1][3] hērēditās is from hērēs (“heir”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *χērēd-; he finds most likely Nussbaum's view that it is a noun made from an adjective Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁ro- (“derelict”), the same as Ancient Greek χῆρος (khêros).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Cicero,[5] who in the Pro Quinctio speaks of being cheated in a partnership arising from an inheritance, and in the Verrines of property acquired or inherited.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is connected with an inheritance, as Cicero's partnership and an auction of an estate, Quintilian's lawsuits over inheritances and the jurists' debtors to an estate.[2][6] It is then inherited, as a surname or Curtius' hereditary rule,[2][6] and, by extension, handed down as if by inheritance, as Cicero's quaestorship passed from one man to another and Livy's war left by a father.[2] In Medieval Latin it can describe a person who inherits or whose status is hereditary, and estates held in full ownership.[7] Stelten gives “original, hereditary”.[8] English hereditary comes from it and dates from the early 15th century.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a partnership from an inheritance and of property received by inheritance.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of a war passed down by a father.[2][5]
  • Medieval Latin – Of persons and estates, hereditary; allodial.[7]
  • early 15th century – Borrowed into English as hereditary.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or connected with an inheritance or succession.[2][6]
  2. Inherited, hereditary.[2][6][1][8]
  3. Handed down as if by inheritance.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Of a person, inheriting; having a hereditary status; of estates, allodial.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com