pedester

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [pɛˈdɛs.tɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [peˈdɛs.ter]^[1]

Forms

pedester (feminine pedestris, neuter pedestre); third-declension three-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from pedes “foot soldier”, oblique stem ⟨pedit-⟩, with the suffix ⟨-ter⟩, a variant of ⟨-tris⟩, on the model of equester.^[1][2] The OLD analyses it as pēs “foot” with the suffix ⟨-estris⟩.^[3] Nepos, Curtius and Martial have a masculine ⟨pedestris⟩.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Claudius Quadrigarius, of the 1st century BC.^[4] The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero, of a statue and of infantry.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant on foot, pedestrian, and of a statue standing, as Cicero's statua pedestris as opposed to an equestrian one.^[3][5] It meant going or done on land rather than by sea, as in Livy, and consisting of foot soldiers, of infantry forces, battles and weapons, as Caesar's stīpendia pedestria.^[3][6] Horace transfers it to writing, sermō pedester “prose”, and to verse that is prosaic.^[3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant on foot, pedestrian.^[7] English pedestrian is recorded from 1716 in the sense “prosaic, dull”, from Horace's figurative use, contrasted with equester.^[8]

Timeline

• 1st century BC – Claudius Quadrigarius has the word.^[4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a statue and of infantry.^[3][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of prose.^[3][4]
• 1716 – English pedestrian is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. On foot, pedestrian; of a statue, standing.^[3]
2. On land, by land.^[3]
3. Of writing, in prose; of verse, prosaic.^[3]
4. Of foot soldiers, infantry.^[3]

Related words

• pēs
• pedes
• equester
• English pedestrian

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com