monarchia

Forms

monarchia f (genitive monarchiae); first declension^[1] Manuscripts often write monarcia, and Lactantius has the Greek accusative monarchian.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μοναρχία (monarkhía, “absolute rule”),^[1][3][2] literally “rule of one”,^[4] from μόνος (mónos, “alone”) and the stem of ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule”).^[5][4]

Isidore of Seville explained it from the Greek words for oneness and rule, through monarcha, the ruler who holds sole power.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Tertullian (c. 160–220 AD), who in Against Praxeas takes it to mean a single and unique rule, applied to God.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it post-classical, the classical equivalents being phrases such as unius dominatio or regnum.^[3] From the theological sense, the unity of God's rule,^[1][2] it spread to political monarchy: Orosius says that when supreme power came to rest with one man, the Greeks called it monarchia.^[2] Glossaries render it “rule of one” and sometimes confuse it with monomachia, single combat.^[2] Jerome cites a work by Justin the philosopher on the monarchy of God.^[2]

Medieval British writers used it of sole rule by a man, a people, God or Christ,^[6] and Niermeyer records the sense “principality”.^[7] Through Old French monarchie it is the source of the English word (mid-14th century).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of the sole rule of God.^[2][3][5]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it.^[3][2][5]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome names a book by Justin the philosopher on the monarchia of God.^[2][5]
• 417/418 AD – Orosius uses it of rule by one man.^[2][5]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm writes of the monarchia of the mind.^[6][5]
• mid-14th century – English monarchy appears, through Old French.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) Sole or absolute rule, monarchy.^[3][8][2]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The unity of the rule of God.^[1][2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A principality.^[7]

Related words

• monarcha
• English monarchy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn