Etymologically
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ordinarius

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [oːr.dɪˈnaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [or.diˈnaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

ōrdinārius (feminine ōrdināria, neuter ōrdinārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from ōrdō, ⟨ōrdinis⟩ “order, row” with the suffix -ārius.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Cato, of a soldier, apparently one in the ranks.[2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant arranged in regular lines, as Vitruvius' courses of masonry and Columella's rows.[2][5] It meant ordinary, usual, regular, as in Livy, and Lewis and Short note it is not in Cicero or Caesar.[2][6] A cōnsul ōrdinārius was a regularly elected consul as opposed to a suffect, and Suetonius uses it of slaves with a permanent position, who might themselves have slaves under them.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant ordinary, regular, usual, and as a noun an ordinary, a cleric with ordinary jurisdiction, such as a bishop.[7] In Medieval Latin a liber ōrdinārius was a liturgical book for the ordinary services.[8] It survives in Italian ordinario and French ordinaire, and through Old French it gave English ordinary about 1400.[1][9]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of soldiers.[2][4]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of regular courses.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the regular and of ordinary consuls.[2][4]
  • c. 1400 – English ordinary is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Arranged in rows or courses.[2]
  2. Ordinary, usual, regular.[2]
  3. Of a consul, regularly appointed.[2]
  4. Of a slave, holding a permanent post.[2]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) As a noun, a bishop or other ordinary.[7]

Word family

  • extrāōrdinārius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com