Etymologically
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paternus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [paˈtɛr.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [paˈtɛr.nus][1]

Forms

paternus (feminine paterna, neuter paternum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin pater (“father”) + -nus.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives pater from Proto-Italic *pater-, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr (“father”), cognate with Oscan patir, Sanskrit पितृ (pitṛ́, “father”), Ancient Greek πατήρ (patḗr) and Old High German fater.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Ennius.[3] Plautus has apud suom paternum hospitem, “at the house of his father's guest-friend”, and Caecilius rem paternam, “his father's property”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Paternus is “of a father, paternal”: a father's property, friends, slaves and relations.[2][5][1] In poetry it extends to “ancestral” (Horace: paternōs in sinū ferēns deōs, “carrying his ancestral gods in his bosom”) and to one's origin or birthplace, “native” (Horace: paternī flūminis rīpae, “the banks of your native river”).[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “paternal, fatherly”.[6] Köbler records it widely in early medieval laws.[3]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[3]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: paternum hospitem.[2][3]
  • 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius: rem paternam.[2][3]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace: paternōs … deōs;[2][3] paternī flūminis.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a father, paternal, fatherly.[2][5][1][6]
  2. Related through the father.[1]
  3. ancestral, of one's forefathers.[2][1]
  4. native, of one's birthplace or origin.[2][1]

Word family

  • paternitās
  • paternālis

Usage notes

L&S distinguish paternus, used of a father's property, possessions and outward relations (paternī agrī, servī, lībertī), from patrius, used of what belongs to his nature, dignity or duty (patrius amor, patria potestās).[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson