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parentalia

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word parentalia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin parēns
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin parens
French parent
Italian parente
Latin parentalia
From the same root
English parent ← parens
Latin parentalis ← parens
Latin parento ← parens

Forms

parentālia n pl (genitive parentālium); third declension[1][2] Inscriptions have the genitive parentāliōrum.[1][3]

Etymology

It is the neuter plural of parentālis (“of parents”), used as a noun,[1][3] which is from Latin parēns (“parent”) + -ālis.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in his speech for Scaurus, tells how the people of Nora left their town all together to hold the Parentalia.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It was the Roman festival of the family dead, held in February, from the 13th to the 21st;[1][3] Ovid describes its rites in the Fasti.[3] Ausonius used it as the title of a collection of poems.[2] The grammarians teach that it has only a plural,[3] and glossaries explain it as the feast days of the pagans.[3]

In British Medieval Latin, influenced by parentēla (“kinship”), it meant one's kin or family.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions the Parentalia held at Nora.[3][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid describes the festival in the Fasti.[3][6]
  • c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius names a collection of poems after it.[2][6]
  • 1380 – A will in Carlisle leaves wool to the poor of the testator's kin.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The Roman festival of the family dead, held in February.[1][3][7]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Kin, kinsfolk.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c 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
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
Cite this entry

“Parentalia.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/parentalia. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·