Etymologically
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iudex

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈjuː.dɛks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈjuː.deks][1]

Forms

iūdex m (genitive iūdicis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of iūs “law” and an agent noun from the root of dīcō “to say, show”, so “one who declares the law”.[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *jowes-dik- (“judge”).[4] Early inscriptions spell it with ⟨ou⟩.[2][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Twelve Tables, about 450 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a person appointed to decide a case at law, a judge, and a member of a panel hearing a case, a juror, especially in the standing courts.[2][6] It was used of a judge or umpire in a contest, as Catullus' Phrygian judge Paris, and by transfer of a critic or assessor.[2] It is sometimes feminine, as in Lucan.[2][7]

In Late and Medieval Latin it meant any public official, and in the plural the magnates; in Britain it was the justice in eyre, and in Poland a land or castle judge.[8][9][10] It survives in Italian giudice, French juge and Spanish juez.[1] Through Old French juge it is the source of English judge, as a noun in the mid-14th century.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.[5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of Paris as judge.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of judges appointed by the praetor.[6][5]
  • mid-14th century – English judge is recorded as a noun.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A judge (in a case at law).[2]
  2. A juror.[2]
  3. A judge, umpire (in a contest).[2]
  4. A critic, assessor.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A public official.[8]

Word family

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 k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl