Etymologically
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latrocinium

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɫa.troːˈkɪ.ni.ũː], [ɫat.roːˈkɪ.ni.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [la.troˈt͡ʃiː.ni.um], [lat.roˈt͡ʃiː.ni.um][1]

Forms

latrōcinium n (genitive latrōciniī or latrōcinī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from latrō “mercenary, robber” with -cinium, or from the verb latrōcinor “to rob, serve for pay”.[2][1][3] The OLD derives latrō probably from a Greek *λάτρων, comparing Ancient Greek λάτρον (látron, “pay”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “you were in the king's pay as a mercenary”.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense, military service for pay, is only in Plautus.[4][5] It came to mean robbery with violence, banditry and piracy, as Verres' night raid on the shrine of Delos in Cicero, and forcible seizure or plunder.[2][4] Georges notes it was often used of unlawful warfare and as an insult to disloyal citizens.[3] By metonymy it meant a band of robbers, as in Cicero's Catilinarians.[2]

In Christian Latin it was used of an illegitimate church council, the “robber synod” of Ephesus.[1] In medieval Latin it meant theft, the jurisdiction over theft and robbery, and stolen goods.[6] French larcin continues it, and English larceny came from the French in the late 15th century.[7][1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of mercenary service.[4][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of robbery and of a band of robbers.[2][9]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of brigandage.[5][9]
  • late 15th century – English larceny is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Military service for pay.[4][1]
  2. Robbery, brigandage, piracy.[2][1]
  3. Plunder, pillage; lawless violence.[2][1]
  4. A band of robbers.[2][1]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An illegitimate church council.[1]
  6. (Medieval Latin) Theft, larceny; jurisdiction over theft; stolen goods.[6]

Word family

  • latrōcinālis
  • latrōnicium

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de