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matrimonium

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word matrimonium

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*méh₂tēr)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mater
French mère
French grand-mère
Latin maternus
Latin matrimonium

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [maː.trɪˈmoː.ni.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ma.triˈmɔː.ni.um][1]

Forms

mātrimōnium n (genitive mātrimōniī or mātrimōnī); second declension[1] It is also spelled mātrumōnium.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin māter (“mother”) + -mōnium.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨māter⟩ to Proto-Italic *mātēr and Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-tr- (“mother”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author.[4] In the Cistellaria a young man speaks of the woman who was to spend her life with him in mātrimōniō, in wedlock.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the married state, wedlock: in mātrimōnium dūcere is to take a wife, in mātrimōniō habēre to have one, and in mātrimōnium dare to give in marriage, which Plautus sets against giving into concubinage.[2] It is also a particular marriage, as when Amphitruo's wife is asked to name a reason why he should not fine her of this marriage, and in a declamation the wife herself.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “marriage, matrimony”, with mātrimōnium mixtum a marriage of partners of different faiths.[5] Medieval Latin also uses it for a dowry and a mother's inheritance.[6] English matrimony (c. 1300) comes from it, through Old French and directly.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of wedlock.[4][2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of taking and having a wife.[2][7]
  • c. 1300 – English matrimony.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Marriage, wedlock, matrimony.[2][1][5]
  2. A particular marriage; a wife.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A dowry; a mother's inheritance.[6]

Word family

  • mātrimōniālis

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes coniugium, the union of male and female in general, even among animals, from contubernium, the union of slaves, mātrimōnium, the lawful marriage of free citizens, and nūptiae, only its beginning, the wedding.[8]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Matrimonium.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/matrimonium. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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