Etymologically
Log in

pedes

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛ.dɛs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛː.des][1]

Forms

pedes m (genitive peditis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from pēs “foot”, with the ending of comes “companion”: one who goes on foot.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation for the soldier is Cato.[2] Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a person who goes on foot, as Livy's pedes incēdat “go on foot” and Virgil's hero going against the enemy on foot, and especially a foot soldier, infantryman, with the plural peditēs “infantry”, as in Caesar.[2][3][5] Equitēs peditēsque “horse and foot” was a name for the whole citizen body, from the old military classes.[2]

In Medieval Latin it was one who goes on foot, and the plural was glossed as poyners, foot soldiers.[6] Isidore of Seville explains the metrical feet, pedēs, which is the plural of pēs, not this word.[7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of foot soldiers.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses the plural of infantry.[5][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of going on foot.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who goes on foot.[2]
  2. A foot soldier, infantryman, (plural) infantry.[2]

Word family

  • peditātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).