pantomimus

Forms

pantomīmus m (genitive pantomīmī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek παντόμιμος (pantómimos, “imitator of all”),^[2][1] from πᾶς (pâs, “all”) and μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, mime”).^[3] A scholiast on Terence explained the name as one who imitates every face.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Seneca the Elder uses it in the preface to his third book of Controversiae, and the younger Seneca in his Letters.^[5] Köbler dates Seneca 4 BC–65 AD.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was a pantomime performer, a dancer who acted a story in dumb show, supported by a chorus and music.^[2][7] Suetonius mentions pantomimes often in the lives of Augustus and Caligula, and Pliny the Younger and the Digest also do.^[7][5] Pliny the Elder uses it of a pantomime piece.^[8]

English pantomime is recorded in the 1610s for a mime actor.^[3]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it.^[5][6]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius mentions pantomimes.^[7][6]
• 1610s – English pantomime is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pantomime performer, a dancer acting in dumb show.^[2][7]
2. A pantomime piece.^[8][5]

Word family

• pantomīma

Related words

• mīmus
• English pantomime

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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.