ministerium

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [mɪ.nɪsˈtɛ.ri.ũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [mi.nisˈtɛː.ri.um]^[1]

Forms

ministerium n (genitive ministeriī or ministerī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin minister (“servant, attendant”) + -ium.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in his translation of Plato's Timaeus, uses it of service.^[4] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[3] Lewis & Short note it is otherwise absent from Cicero and Caesar.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the work or condition of a servant, service, attendance, as Livy says the sons of nobles were chosen to serve the king.^[2] It also meant a duty or employment performed for a superior, as Livy's public slaves taught the rites, and help given as a subordinate, in a good or bad sense.^[2] With a genitive it meant administration, and concretely the servants themselves or a dinner service.^[2][1]

In medieval Latin it was a household post, a court office, a public office, a craft and a church ministry.^[6] Its descendants include Old French mestier, French métier and Italian mestiere “trade”, and the learned French ministère.^[1] English ministry is recorded around 1200.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of service.^[4][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of service and duties.^[2][3]
• c. 1200 – English ministry is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Service, attendance.^[2][1]
2. A duty, office, employment.^[2][1]
3. Help, support.^[2]
4. Administration, management.^[2]
5. Servants, attendants.^[2][1]
6. A dinner service.^[2][1]
7. (Medieval Latin) A court or public office; a craft; a church ministry.^[6]

Word family

• ministeriani

Related words

• minister
• English ministry

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com