pecuarius

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [pɛ.kuˈaː.ri.ʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [pe.kuˈaː.ri.us]^[1]

Forms

pecuārius (feminine pecuāria, neuter pecuārium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Also spelled pequārius.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin pecū (“cattle”) + -ārius.^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨pecū⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *peḱ-u- (“cattle”), cognate with Umbrian ⟨pequo⟩ “cattle” and Sanskrit पशु (paśú-, “cattle”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite Plautus' rēs pecuāria.^[4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it meant of cattle or sheep or of raising them, as in rēs pecuāria “livestock, stock-farming” in Plautus and Cicero; as a noun it meant a cattle-breeder, grazier, as in Varro.^[2][4][6][5]

British Medieval Latin used it of livestock, and pecuārium (genus canis) was a sheepdog.^[7] Spanish and Italian pecuario are learned borrowings of it.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has rēs pecuāria.^[4][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses the noun.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of cattle, of livestock.^[2][4]

Noun

1. A cattle-breeder, grazier.^[2][6]

Word family

• pecuāria

Related words

• pecū
• pecus
• pecūnia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ 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