iubilaeus

Forms

iūbilaeus m (genitive iūbilaeī); second declension; also an adjective in annus iūbilaeus.^[1][2] The manuscripts and editions also have iobeleus, iubeleus and iubilaeus, varying between one another.^[3] A neuter iūbilaeum “jubilee time” is found in the Vulgate.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἰωβηλαῖος (iōbēlaîos),^[1] from Biblical Hebrew יובל (jōbēl).^[1][4][3][5] Etymonline gives the Hebrew word the older meanings “ram's horn” and “ram”, since the jubilee was announced with a ram's horn.^[6] The spellings with ⟨-bil-⟩ come from association with the unrelated verb iūbilō “to shout with joy”.^[6][3]

Isidore of Seville already calls it a Hebrew word,^[3] which he interprets as “the gift of remission”.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Christian word: the TLL cites it from Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose and Jerome,^[3] and Köbler's first source is the Vulgate,^[5] where annus iubilaeus is the Jewish year of jubilee, every fiftieth year, when slaves were freed and land returned to its former owners.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it names the jubilee year of the Law of Moses, both as a noun and as an adjective with annus.^[1][4][2] The Christian poet Arator uses its first syllable short.^[4][1]

In Medieval Latin it kept the Old Testament sense,^[9][8] and it was used of the Catholic Holy Year, in which the pope granted remission of penalties: a Hungarian record speaks of a bishop who went to Rome “in the jubilee year, the year of the Lord 1300”.^[10] Niermeyer also records the sense “a man of fifty”.^[9] English took the word from Old French in the late 14th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers uses it in his commentary on Psalm 118.^[3][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate calls the fiftieth year annus iubilaeus.^[4][2][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains it as a Hebrew word.^[3][8][5]
• 1300 – A Hungarian record uses it for the Holy Year in Rome.^[10]
• late 14th century – English borrows it, through Old French, as jubilee.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, Ecclesiastical Latin) The Jewish year of jubilee, held every fifty years, in which slaves were set free and land went back to its former owners; often as an adjective in annus iūbilaeus.^[1][4][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) The Catholic Holy Year, a year of solemn indulgences.^[10]
3. (Medieval Latin) A man of fifty.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE