praebenda

Forms

praebenda f (genitive praebendae); first declension^[1][2] Medieval spellings include prebenda, prevenda and provenda.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin praebeō (“to supply, provide”): the feminine noun grew out of the verb's gerundive, “what is to be supplied”.^[5][1] Du Cange and Niermeyer note that Classical Latin used the neuter plural ⟨praebenda⟩ for soldiers' rations.^[6][3] Köbler traces the verb to prae and habeō (“to have, hold”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's earliest witness is Eugraphius' commentary on Terence, which explains stipes as the praebenda of soldiers, their allowance.^[7] Cassiodorus uses it in his Variae for support granted by the State.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant an allowance paid by the State to a private person.^[1][2][8] In the Middle Ages it was first a daily or occasional allowance of food, then the food supply of a religious community, and finally the prebend: the share of a church's revenues that supported a canon or another cleric.^[3][9] It could also mean the estates that fed a community, a priest's glebe, and fodder for animals;^[3] British records use it above all for grain given as provender.^[5]

It lives on in the Romance languages, as Italian prebenda,^[8] and English took prebend from Old French and Medieval Latin.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus writes of allowances owed to commanders and officers.^[7][4]
• 888 – A diploma, the first medieval record Köbler gives.^[4]
• c. 1163 – A Scottish royal charter uses it for grain as provender.^[5]
• early 15th century – English borrows prebend for a canon's stipend.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) An allowance granted by the State to a private person.^[1][2][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A daily or occasional allowance of food, also one given to a religious community.^[3]
3. (Medieval Latin) A prebend, a benefice, especially a canonry.^[3][9]
4. (Medieval Latin) The estates that supported a religious community or a parish priest.^[3]
5. (Medieval Latin) Provender, fodder.^[3][5]

Related words

• English prebend

References

1. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d 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
6. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com