Etymologically
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participatus

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Forms

participātus m (genitive participātūs); fourth declension[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin participō (“to share, take part”), with the suffix of action nouns -tus.[4][5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

According to the TLL it is found from the 4th century on, in the sense “sharing, partnership”;[4] Köbler's first author is Ambrose, who writes of the prophet shrinking from a share in so great a crime.[6][4]

Semantic evolution

It was used much like participatio: people shared in a thing, such as communion with a church or a share in fortune.[4][5] The writers of the Historia Augusta use it for a share in supreme power, as when Niger calls Severus ad participatum imperii, to a share in the rule.[4][1]

The divine could be its subject too: Martianus Capella has Mercury taken into partnership, and Christian texts speak of God coming to share in human nature.[4] The TLL notes that manuscripts sometimes confuse it with principatus.[4] Du Cange cites it from medieval glosses with the meaning “fellowship”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it for having a share in a crime.[6][4]
  • 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it for Mercury's partnership with Apollo.[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A sharing, participation, partnership.[1][2][4]
  2. (Late Latin) A share in supreme power, joint rule.[4][1]
  3. (Christian Latin) The sharing of the divine in human nature.[4]

Usage notes

Participātus, -a, -um is also the perfect participle of participō.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b 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. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre