Etymologically
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minister

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [mɪˈnɪs.tɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [miˈnis.ter][1]

Forms

minister m (genitive ministrī, feminine ministra or ministrīx); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is derived from minus “less” with the comparative suffix *-tero-, from *minos-tero-, as magister “master” is from magis “more”.[2][3][4][1] The comparative minor is inherited from Proto-Italic *minōs, from Proto-Indo-European *meih₁- (“to lessen”).[2]

Cognate with Oscan minstreis (“of the lesser”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it from Varro onwards,[2] and Köbler from Cicero (81–43 BC).[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a servant or attendant, especially one who waited at table, as Virgil's hundred serving men and Horace's serving boy.[3] In religion it was a priest's attendant, as Lucretius' attendants hiding the knife from Iphigenia.[3]

In general it was anyone who helped in a subordinate role, an agent or assistant, as Cicero's orators with jurists as their helpers, and also an accomplice.[3][1] In Christian Latin it was a minister of the Church, and in Medieval Latin a royal official, steward or ministerial.[5] English minister came from it through Old French about 1300.[6]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.[2]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of sacrificial attendants.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of assistants.[3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of servants at a feast.[3][5]
  • c. 1300 – English minister is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A servant, attendant, waiter.[3][1]
  2. A priest's attendant, acolyte.[3]
  3. An agent, assistant, subordinate; an accomplice.[3][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An official, steward.[5]

Adjective

  1. Serving, helping.[3][7]
  2. (with genitive) Devoted to the service of (a god).[3]

Word family

  • administer
  • ministerium
  • ministra
  • praeminister
  • ministrō

Usage notes

Döderlein says minister was a free person or a subordinate, unlike servus, famulus and mancipium, which denote slaves.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper