matertera

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [maːˈtɛr.tɛ.ra]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [maˈtɛr.te.ra]^[1]

Forms

mātertera f (genitive māterterae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from māter “mother” with the contrastive suffix ⟨*-teros⟩ found also in magister and minister, so “one like a mother”.^[1][2] Lewis & Short explained it as “a second mother”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a mother's sister, a maternal aunt, as in Cicero.^[2][5] The jurists called a grandmother's sister mātertera magna, and further degrees mātertera maior and maxima.^[2][5]

Aldhelm and other British Medieval Latin writers used it for a maternal aunt, as of the mother of James, the Lord's aunt.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[5][4]
• 533 AD – The Digest defines mātertera magna.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A maternal aunt.^[2]

Word family

• abmātertera
• prōmātertera

Related words

• māter
• amita
• avunculus
• patruus

Usage notes

The father's sister was amita, and the mother's brother avunculus.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ 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