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munitus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word munitus

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic (*moini-)

Forms

mūnītus (feminine mūnīta, neuter mūnītum, comparative mūnītior, superlative mūnītissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1] Varro has the spelling moenītus.[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle of mūniō (“to fortify”), used as an adjective.[1][2][3] De Vaan derives ⟨mūniō⟩ from moenia (“city walls”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *moini- (“protective wall”) and perhaps Proto-Indo-European *(H)moi-ni- (“construction”); he compares Sanskrit मित (mitá-, “fixed, built”) and Old Irish do·dímen (“fixes, ties”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is Varro, who calls the citadel the best-fortified place of the city;[1][3] Köbler gives Lucretius.[1][3]

Semantic evolution

It is said of places that are well fortified or defended, as in Cicero's letters and Caesar, and of places with strong natural defences, as Cicero's “nothing is better protected against Syria than Cilicia”;[1][2] Petronius' Trimalchio lies among cushions that may be “well-padded”.[1][2]

Figuratively it is secure or safe, as Cicero's “what is more protected by every religious sanction than the house of each citizen?”, and of an argument, well grounded, as in Gellius.[1] Church Latin glosses it “secure, defended, fortified”.[5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of the citadel.[1][3]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius.[3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a house protected by religion.[1][3]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of a well-grounded argument.[1][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of places) Well fortified, defended; having strong natural defences.[1][2][5]
  2. Well-padded.[1]
  3. (figurative) Secure, safe;[1] (of an argument) well grounded.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Munitus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/munitus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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