petauristarius

Pronunciation

• Classical: [pɛ.tau̯.rɪsˈtaː.ri.ʊs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [pe.tau̯.risˈtaː.ri.us]^[1]

Forms

petauristārius m (genitive petauristāriī or petauristārī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin petauristēs (“acrobat”) + -ārius,^[2][3] a Latin extension of the borrowed noun,^[4] which renders Ancient Greek πεταυριστής (petauristḗs).^[4][3][1] Köbler connects the Greek word with πέταυρον (pétauron, “frame for rope-dancers; hen-roost”) and πέτεσθαι (pétesthai, “to fly”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Petronius, who uses it three times in the dinner scene of the Satyricon.^[5][3] When three white pigs are led into the dining room, the narrator thinks that acrobats have come in with pigs that will perform some marvels.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It named an acrobat who performed on the petaurum, an apparatus like a trapeze.^[2] Apart from Petronius it occurs in Firmicus Maternus' astrological work, the Mathesis.^[5][4][6]

Timeline

• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of acrobats at a dinner.^[5][3]
• 334/337 AD – Firmicus Maternus uses it in the Mathesis.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An acrobat performing on the petaurum; a tumbler, rope-dancer.^[2][6]

Usage notes

The shorter forms petauristēs (in Varro) and petaurista (in Aelius Stilo, quoted by Festus) have the same meaning.^[4][7][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.