paelex

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpae̯.ɫɛks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛː.leks]^[1]

Forms

paelex f (genitive paelicis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3] It is usually compared with Ancient Greek παλλακή (pallakḗ, “concubine”), Old Irish airech (“a kind of concubine”) and Avestan pairikā- (“witch”), but de Vaan points out that none of their forms matches the Latin.^[2][4] Saalfeld and Gaffiot take it as borrowed from Ancient Greek πάλλαξ (pállax).^[5][6] De Vaan mentions a guess from paedor “filth”, and Levin's view that it was borrowed from a Mediterranean language, perhaps Semitic, comparing Biblical Hebrew פילגש (pileḡeš, “concubine”).^[2] The spelling pellex reflects a popular link with pelliciō “to entice”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant a mistress installed as a rival to a wife, or in addition to her, a concubine of a married man.^[4][8] Lucan applies it scornfully to a second wife, and Seneca and Martial to the nightingale, Philomela, rival of her sister.^[4] The spellings pēlex and pellex are also found.^[4][8]

In Medieval Latin it meant a man's sexual partner who was not his wife, often as a rival to the wife.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the nightingale.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mistress who rivals a wife; a concubine.^[4]
2. (scornful) A second wife.^[4]

Word family

• paelicātus
• pēlicātus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ 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