parricida

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [par.rɪˈkiː.da]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [par.riˈt͡ʃiː.da]^[1]

Forms

parricīda m or f (genitive parricīdae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound with a second part “killer”, from caedō “to cut down, kill”; the first part is disputed.^[2][3][1] De Vaan thinks it was a fairly recent *pāri-kaida “one who kills an equal”, from pār “equal”, since it shows no syncope.^[2] The OLD follows the older derivation from *pāso- “kinsman”, compared with Ancient Greek πηός (pēós, “kinsman by marriage”), which de Vaan finds unconvincing.^[3][2] The ancients linked it with pater, hence the sense “father-killer”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, and a law of the kings quoted by Festus has the old nominative paricidas.^[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the murderer of a near relation, and, through the false link with pater, especially the murderer of one's father, a parricide.^[3] It was also any murderer, and with patriae a traitor to his country, the “parricide of the fatherland”.^[3] The TLL thinks the first part once meant members of the same clan, then all free citizens.^[5]

Medieval writers distinguished it from patricīda.^[6] Through French it gave English parricide in the 1550s, of the person, and in the 1560s, from parricīdium, of the act.^[7]

Timeline

• 7th–6th century BC – A law of the kings has the form paricidas.^[2][3]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero calls Catiline's associates parricides of the fatherland.^[3][4]
• 1550s – English parricide is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The murderer of a near relation; a parricide, murderer of one's father.^[3]
2. A murderer.^[3]
3. parricīda patriae, a traitor to one's country.^[3]

Related words

• caedō
• pār
• English parricide

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. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com