nummarius
Pronunciation
Forms
nummārius (feminine nummāria, neuter nummārium); first/second-declension adjective[1] Some manuscripts have nūmārius.[2][3]
Etymology
It is from Latin nummus (“coin”) + -ārius.[4][1] nummus is related, at least ultimately, to Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos, “custom, law”), its first meaning being the regular unit of currency;[4] Wiktionary takes it from the Doric form νοῦμμος (noûmmos).[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Köbler dates it from Lucilius and Novius.[5] Lucilius uses it of a man who can be bought, and Novius has a money chest, arcam nummariam.[4]
Semantic evolution
It means of or relating to coins, and rēs nummāria is the currency;[4] more widely it is financial or pecuniary, as Cicero's man in the greatest money difficulty and his money box, thēca nummāria.[4][2] Of persons it means capable of being bribed, venal.[4][1] In Church Latin it is of money, venal or mercenary.[3]
Timeline
- c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius, of a venal man.[4][5]
- 1st century BC – Novius, of a money chest.[4][5]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero, of money difficulties and a money box.[4][2][5]
Meanings
Adjective
- Of coins or money;[4][2][1] rēs nummāria, the currency.[4][2][1]
- Financial, pecuniary.[4][2]
- That can be bribed, venal, mercenary.[4][1][3]
Related words
- nummus
- nummulārius
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de