mactus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈmak.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmak.tus]^[1]

Forms

mactus (feminine macta, neuter mactum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[1] The OLD takes it as the participle of a verb *magere “to increase”, from the root of magnus “great”, as the TLL also reports.^[2][3] De Vaan prefers Driessen's link with Proto-Celtic *make/o- “to raise, nourish”, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱ- (“to make long”), so “made long, made bigger”, the root of macer “thin”, since *mag-tos would have given *māctus.^[4][1] Lewis and Short compared Ancient Greek μάκαρ (mákar, “blessed”).^[5] Risch explains the formula macte estō as a blend, and mactō as “to pronounce that formula”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato, whose prayer says “be honoured by the offering of this pig”.^[4][6] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the language of religion it meant honoured, glorified, magnified, of the gods, almost only in the vocative macte, as in Cato's macte hōc porcō piāculō immolandō estō.^[2][5][6] The phrase macte virtūte estō, “be honoured for your valour”, became a formula of praise, well done.^[6][4] A second mactus, perhaps a back-formation from mactāre, meant struck or afflicted, in Lucretius.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato's prayer uses macte.^[6][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses mactus “struck”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Honoured, glorified, magnified (mostly in the vocative macte).^[2]
2. macte virtūte, well done, bravo.^[6]
3. Struck, afflicted.^[2]

Word family

• macte
• mactō

Related words

• macer
• magnus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de