Etymologically
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manes

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmaː.neːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmaː.nes][1]

Forms

mānēs m pl (genitive mānium); third declension[1] An inscription spells it Maanium.[2]

Etymology

It is the plural of Old Latin mānus “good”, used as a noun, “the good ones”.[1][3][4] Festus already derived it from ⟨mānus⟩, and the Thesaurus thinks him perhaps right, and the OLD also compares the Phrygian god Men.[5][2] De Vaan traces ⟨mānus⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-no- (“good”), of uncertain further origin.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero, dī mānēs.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

Dī mānēs were the spirits of the dead, honoured as minor gods, as in Cicero's laws and Lucretius; in poetry it was also the mortal remains, the ashes, as in Propertius; the underworld, as in Virgil; and death, fate.[2][3] Isidore says the Manes were gods of the dead whose power lay between the moon and the earth.[8]

British Medieval Latin used it for the spirits of the dead.[9] English manes is used of the Roman spirits of the dead.[4]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses dī mānēs.[2][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the underworld.[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (plural) The spirits of the dead, the manes.[2]
  2. Mortal remains, ashes.[2]
  3. The underworld.[2]
  4. Death, fate.[2]

Word family

  • mānālis

Usage notes

Manēs, genitive -ētis, is a different word, the name of Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, from Greek.[3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press