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lecticarius

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word lecticarius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC Cicero, Pro Roscio Amerino More words from the 1st century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin lectīca
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lēctus
Catalan llit
French lit
Italian letto
Spanish lecho
Latin lectīca
Italian lettiga
Spanish lechiga
Latin lectīcārius
From the same root
Latin illectus ← lēctus
Latin lectisternium ← lēctus
Latin lectulus ← lēctus
Italian allettare ← letto

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫɛk.tiːˈkaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [lek.tiˈkaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

lectīcārius m (genitive lectīcāriī or lectīcārī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin lectīca (“litter”) + -ārius.[2][3][4] ⟨lectīca⟩ is itself formed from lectus (“bed, couch”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in the speech for Sextus Roscius, lists litter-bearers among the common household trades, beside cooks and bakers (coquos, pistores, lecticarios).[3][5][4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a slave who carried a lectīca, a litter-bearer or chairman.[2][5] Servius Sulpicius uses it in a letter preserved among Cicero's, and Suetonius tells how Caligula's litter-bearers ran to help with their poles.[5] Imperial litter-bearers formed a body, and inscriptions name the corpus lecticariorum Caesaris and a decurio lecticariorum;[5] the word is common in inscriptions.[3] The jurist Paul counts them among the urban household staff.[5]

A scholiast on Cicero defines them as those who carry the nobility.[3] In Ecclesiastical Latin it also meant a bearer of a coffin, a pallbearer.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero lists litter-bearers among household slaves.[3][5][4]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has Caligula's litter-bearers.[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A litter-bearer, a chairman.[2][5]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A coffin-bearer, pallbearer.[6]

Word family

  • lectīcāriola
  • lectīcula

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Lecticarius.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/lecticarius. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·