Etymologically

monetarius

Etymology and origin of the Latin word monetarius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
inscriptions
Ultimate origin
Latin (Monēta)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin monetarius
English monetary

Forms

monētārius (feminine monētāria, neuter monētārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from monēta “mint, money” with the suffix -ārius, ⟨monēta⟩ comes from ⟨Iūnō Monēta⟩, at whose temple the Roman mint stood.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite inscriptions, as familia monētāria “the staff of the mint”.[4][5] Köbler's first source for the noun is the Historia Augusta (4th–5th century AD).[6]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it meant of the mint, of money, and as a noun a worker in a mint, a moneyer.[2][4][5]

In Medieval Latin it meant of money or coining, and as a noun a minter.[7] British Medieval Latin used it of a moneyer or mint, and of a counterfeiter's tools.[8] Late Latin monētārius gave English monetary in 1802, “pertaining to coinage or currency”.[3]

Timeline

  • 4th–5th century AD – The Historia Augusta uses the noun.[6]
  • 1802 – English monetary is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the mint; monetary.[4][5]

Noun

  1. A mint worker, moneyer.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ 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

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Monetarius.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/monetarius. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·