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plebicola

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word plebicola

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin plēbs,colō#1
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin plebs
Latin plebicola
From the same root
Latin plebeius ← plebs
Latin plebiscitum ← plebs

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɫeːˈbɪ.kɔ.ɫa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pleˈbiː.ko.la][1]

Forms

plēbicola m (genitive plēbicolae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin plēbs (“the common people”) + -cola (“one who cultivates”), from colō1 (“to cultivate, court”).[2][1][3][4] plēbs is a more recent variant of plēbēs,[5] which goes back to Proto-Italic *plēþū- and Proto-Indo-European *pléh1-dh-uh1 (“fullness”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Cicero,[3][4] who uses it ironically of the tribune Rullus as a friend of the people.[4][6]

Semantic evolution

It named a person who courts the favour of the common people, a demagogue or friend of the people.[2][6] In Cicero's speech for Sestius someone marries a freedwoman to seem a plebicola,[4] and Livy uses it of the decemvir Appius Claudius and of flatterers of the public.[4][6] Seneca applies it to Caesar,[4] and Prudentius to the Gracchi.[4]

The grammarian Augustine lists it among nouns of common gender.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a tribune courting the people.[4][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of Appius Claudius the decemvir.[4][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca applies it to Caesar.[4][3]
  • 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius calls the Gracchi plebicolae.[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who courts the favour of the common people; a friend of the people, a demagogue.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Plebicola.” Etymologically, 25 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/plebicola. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·