monarcha

Forms

monarcha m (genitive monarchae); first declension^[1] Medieval Latin also has monarches, monarchus and monarchius.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μονάρχης (monárkhēs, “monarch, ruler”),^[1][4][5] the DMLBS also naming the Greek form μόναρχος (mónarkhos).^[3] The Greek word is made of μόνος (mónos, “alone”) and ἀρχός (arkhós, “leader”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short cite as the earliest instance an old poet quoted by the grammarian Marius Victorinus, with the phrase caeruli monarcha ponti, “monarch of the blue sea”;^[4] the TLL takes this reading as the first edition's variant for a name, Menoeta.^[6] In the TLL the word for a sole ruler is found in a philosophical letter falsely ascribed to Ambrose and in Cassiodorus' Latin version of Josephus, where the Jews were ruled by judges and monarchae before they had kings.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Isidore of Seville explains the term,^[6] and medieval writers used it for a king or emperor:^[3][7] English kings call themselves monarcha of all Albion in their charters.^[3] In Niermeyer it is also the ruler of a territorial principality.^[2] By extension it named a bishop or abbot,^[3][8] the founder of a monastic rule,^[7] Christ or God,^[3] and the pope as supreme monarch of the Church.^[8] In the British sources it is also used of an animal or plant, and of a piece in a game.^[3]

In New Latin the astronomer Rheticus called the sun the monarch in heaven.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus' version of Josephus uses the plural monarchae of rulers before the kings.^[6][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the term.^[6][5]
• 966 – King Edgar signs a charter as totius Albionis monarcha.^[3]
• 1003 – Æthelred is called gentis Anglicae rex et monarcha insularum.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sole and absolute ruler, a monarch.^[4][6][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A king or emperor.^[3][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) The ruler of a territorial principality.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A bishop or abbot; the founder of a monastic rule.^[3][8][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) Christ or God as sole ruler.^[3]

Related words

• English monarch

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de