Etymologically
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libertus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [liːˈbɛr.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [liˈbɛr.tus][1]

Forms

lībertus m (genitive lībertī, feminine līberta); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from līber “free” with the suffix -tus.[2][1] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Italic ⟨*louðertos⟩, as in Faliscan ⟨loferta⟩ “freedwoman”, from PIE ⟨*h₁lewdʰ-er-tos⟩.[1] Isidore explains it as ⟨quasi līberātus⟩ “as if freed”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Law of the Twelve Tables, about 450 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a freedman, with reference to the master who freed him, his patron.[2] Döderlein explains that lībertus is the freedman in relation to his former master, opposed to servus, while lībertīnus refers to his rank, opposed to cīvis and ingenuus.[5] Isidore adds that the sons of freedmen were called lībertīnī by the ancients.[3]

It was borrowed into Italian liberto.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.[4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a freedman made heir.[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A freedman, in relation to his patron.[2]

Word family

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from lībertīnus.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper