paternitas

Forms

paternitās f (genitive paternitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin paternus + -tās.^[1][2][3] Paternus goes back to pater, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr (“father”); de Vaan thinks it was probably formed after māternus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler first records it in Marius Victorinus, in the first half of the 4th century.^[5] The Old Latin Bible, quoted by Jerome, uses it to translate the Greek word for a clan or family.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its first use was biblical, “family, lineage”: in the Vulgate's Ephesians every paternitas in heaven and on earth is named after God the Father,^[6][2] and Jerome explains that Latin translators render a family descended from one root this way.^[2] Augustine uses it for fatherhood and for fatherly feeling.^[7][6]

In Medieval Latin it meant an abbot's office and became a title of honour (paternitas vestra, “your paternity”),^[8] addressed to bishops, the pope, abbots and teachers;^[9] British sources also use it for authority or jurisdiction, and for the fatherhood of God the Father.^[9] English paternity comes from it through Old French.^[10]

Timeline

• first half of the 4th century AD – Marius Victorinus uses the word.^[5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it for fatherly feeling.^[6][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Ephesians for a family descended from one father.^[6][5]
• 859 – It appears in the capitularies.^[5]
• mid-15th century – Borrowed into English, through French, as paternite.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A family or line descended from one father.^[6][2][7]
2. (Late Latin) Fatherhood, paternity.^[3][7]
3. (Late Latin) Fatherly feeling or care.^[6][3]
4. (Medieval Latin) The office of an abbot.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) A title of honour for a bishop, the pope, an abbot or a teacher.^[8][9]
6. (Medieval Latin) Authority, jurisdiction.^[9]

Related words

• pater
• paterfamiliās
• paternālis
• paternus
• patraster
• patria
• patricē
• patricīda
• patricius
• patricus
• English paternity

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d 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
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com