Etymologically
Log in

legionarius

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 01:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫɛ.ɡi.oːˈnaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [le.d͡ʒi.oˈnaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

legiōnārius (feminine legiōnāria, neuter legiōnārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from legiō (“legion”) with the suffix -ārius.[2][3][1] The noun comes from legō (“to gather, choose”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *lege- and Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect”), cognate with Ancient Greek λέγω (légō, “to collect, count, speak”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Caesar on,[3] who has legiōnāriī mīlitēs legiōnis decimae, “legionary soldiers of the Tenth Legion”;[6] Asinius Pollio, in a letter to Cicero, has legiōnārius mīles;[6][4] Köbler gives Cicero.[6][4]

Semantic evolution

It is of or belonging to a legion, as Caesar's legionary cohorts, and as a masculine noun a legionary soldier, as Caesar's “the legionaries had some grain, the light-armed and auxiliaries none”.[2][6] Livy and Tacitus also use the noun.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of legionary soldiers.[6][2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a legion, legionary.[2][6][1]

Noun

  1. A legionary soldier.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press