Etymologically
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libertinus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [liː.bɛrˈtiː.nʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [li.berˈtiː.nus][1]

Forms

lībertīnus (feminine lībertīna, neuter lībertīnum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lībertus (“freedman”) + -īnus.[2][1] The TLL notes that it first meant the son of a freedman.[3] Lībertus is from līber “free”, from Proto-Italic *leuþ-ero-, Proto-Indo-European *h₁leudʰ-ero-.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “so part of them are freedmen”.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a freedman with regard to his social and legal status, and as an adjective of freedman status, as Cicero's libertinus homo and Suetonius' soldiers recruited from freedmen.[2][6] The OLD quotes a writer who says that in the time of Appius Claudius libertini meant the sons of freedmen.[2]

Döderlein says libertus is the freedman with reference to his master, libertinus with reference to his rank, as opposed to the freeborn.[7] Köbler also records the sense of a dissolute fellow.[5] English libertine was borrowed in the late 14th century, first meaning a freedman.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses libertinus homo.[6][5]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of soldiers recruited from freedmen.[6][5]
  • late 14th century – English libertine is borrowed.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A freedman (by status).[2][1]
  2. The son of a freedman.[2]
  3. A dissolute fellow.[5]

Adjective

  1. Of a freedman, of freedman status.[2][1]

Word family

  • lībertīna
  • lībertīnitās
  • libertinium

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts libertus, a freedman in relation to his former master, with libertinus, a freedman in relation to the free citizens.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com