Etymologically
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patrimonium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pa.trɪˈmoː.ni.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pa.triˈmɔː.ni.um][1]

Forms

patrimōnium n (genitive patrimōniī or patrimōnī); second declension[1]

Etymology

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

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler give Laberius as its first author.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is the property of a head of family, an estate or fortune, especially one inherited from one's father, Cicero speaks of a rich and ample patrimony.[2][6] In the jurists it is the private property or chest of the emperors, and figuratively anything inherited: Cicero tells the jurors to guard the public patrimony of the law as carefully as their own.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “patrimony, inheritance”.[7] In Medieval Latin it is an estate of the Roman Church, and the whole of its estates.[8] English patrimony (mid-14th century) first meant the property of the Church.[3]

Timeline

  • 106–43 BC – Laberius.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of private and public patrimony.[2][5]
  • 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great.[5]
  • mid-14th century – English patrimony.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An estate, fortune, private property; an inheritance from one's father, patrimony.[2][1][7]
  2. The private chest of the emperors.[2][1]
  3. (figuratively) A heritage.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An estate of the Roman Church; its estates as a whole.[8]

Word family

  • patrimōniālis
  • patrimōniolum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill