Etymologically
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patriota

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pa.triˈoː.ta], [pat.riˈoː.ta][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pa.triˈɔː.ta], [pat.riˈɔː.ta][1]

Forms

patriōta m (genitive patriōtae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πατριώτης (patriṓtēs, “fellow countryman”).[2][3][4] The Greek word is built on πάτριος (pátrios, “of one's fathers”) and πατρίς (patrís, “fatherland”), which come from πατήρ (patḗr, “father”), with the suffix -ώτης (-ṓtēs).[4] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr (“father”), the source also of pater and patria.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a letter of Gregory the Great (540–604 AD),[3] who tells his readers: beati Augustini patriotae vestri opuscula legite “read the works of the blessed Augustine, your countryman”; some manuscripts have compatriotae instead.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant a fellow countryman, the sense continued by Italian patriota.[2][5] Medieval Latin used it for a compatriot and for an inhabitant or native of a place;[6][7] a saint's life calls Columbanus the illustrious patriota of all the Scots.[7] British sources from about 1100 also use it for a countryman living on the land and for the inhabitant of a particular country.[8]

English took patriot in the 1590s in the sense “compatriot”, from French patriote and directly from the Late Latin word.[4]

Timeline

  • 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great calls Augustine “your countryman” in a letter.[2][5][3]
  • c. 1100 – A Whitby charter reports what the “old countrymen” told about the monasteries of the time.[8]
  • 1590s – English borrows patriot, at first meaning “compatriot”, from French and Late Latin.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A fellow countryman, a compatriot.[2][9][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) An inhabitant or native of a country or district.[6][7][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A countryman, one who lives in the countryside.[8]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press