monasticus

Forms

monasticus (feminine monastica, neuter monasticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μοναστικός (monastikós, “solitary; monastic”),^[2][3][4] from μονάζω (monázō, “to live alone”),^[5][6] itself from μόνος (mónos, “alone”).^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Cassian (c. 360–c. 435 AD); the word means “of monks, monastic”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It belongs to Christian Latin: Gennadius and Gregory, in his letters, speak of monastica disciplina, and Cassiodorus of monastica conversatio, the monastic way of life.^[7][3] Later texts speak of the regula monastica and the monasticus habitus.^[7] It was sometimes confused with monachicus.^[7]

In medieval British Latin it was also used as a noun for a monk, and in the sense “single, of one unit”, as in a charter of 945 and in a dominium monasticum, the rule of one household beside political and royal rule.^[8] English borrowed it as monastic in the mid-15th century, from French and directly from medieval Latin;^[5] Italian monastico continues it.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 360–c. 435 AD – Cassian uses it.^[2]
• end of the 5th century AD – Gennadius writes of monasticae disciplinae.^[7][2]
• 723 – A letter in the Boniface correspondence uses it as a noun for monks.^[8]
• 945 – An English charter uses it in the sense “single”.^[8]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as monastic.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of monks or a monastery, monastic.^{[3][9][7][10][11]}
2. (Medieval Latin) Single, of one unit; relating to one household.^[8]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A monk.^[8]

Related words

• English monastic

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d e 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
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill