Etymologically
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pecuniosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛ.kuː.niˈoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pe.ku.niˈɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

pecūniōsus (feminine pecūniōsa, neuter pecūniōsum, comparative pecūniōsior, superlative pecūniōsissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pecūnia (“money”) + -ōsus.[2][1][3] pecūnia “property” is formed on pecū “cattle”, which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *peku- and Proto-Indo-European *peḱ-u- (“cattle”).[4] He compares Umbrian pequo (“cattle”), Sanskrit पशु (paśú-, “cattle, animal”) and Lithuanian pẽkus (“cattle”).[4] Cicero already explained the word from cattle: in Romulus' time wealth lay in herds and land, and so the rich were called by this word and by locuplētēs.[3][5] Quintilian and Varro repeat the link with pecus.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[6] who in the Pro Roscio comoedo pairs men rich in property and moneyed.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is well provided with money, moneyed, wealthy, used of men and women and in the comparative and superlative.[2][5] Church Latin glosses it rich, wealthy,[7] and Wiktionary also gives the sense gainful.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of moneyed men, and of the old word for the rich.[5][3][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian repeats the derivation from cattle.[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Well provided with money, moneyed, wealthy.[2][5][1][7]
  2. Gainful.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson