ipsimus

Forms

ipsimus m (genitive ipsimī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a quasi-superlative from Latin ipse (“himself”), as if “his very self”.^[1] Gaffiot and the TLL treat it under that pronoun.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found only in Petronius, where freedmen use it of their former master, the master of the house.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to colloquial Latin,^[1] and the corpora record it only in Petronius' novel.^[1][4] The feminine ipsima was formed the same way for the mistress of the house.^[3]

Timeline

• 60–66 AD – Petronius has freedmen speak of their ipsimus, the master of the household.^[1][4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (colloquial) The master of a household.^[1][4]

Word family

• ipsima

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de