Etymologically
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praetorius

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯ˈtoː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [preˈtɔː.ri.us][1]

Forms

praetōrius (feminine praetōria, neuter praetōrium); first/second-declension adjective[1] Inscriptions also spell it pretōrius.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin praetor (“praetor, commander”) + -ius.[3][1][2] De Vaan derives praetor from ⟨*prai-itōr⟩, “one who goes before”, from prae and eō (“to go”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler first records it in Cicero,[5] who has the cohors praetōria, a commander's bodyguard.[3]

Semantic evolution

Praetōrius first belongs to a military commander (the praetor in the old sense): the cohors praetōria was a general's bodyguard (Cicero), and under the Empire the cohorts of the emperor's guard, the Praetorian Guard.[3][6] It also belongs to a praetor or propraetor and to the powers vested in him (Varro: praetōrium iūs, Cicero: law made by the praetors' edicts), and describes a man of praetorian rank, one who has been praetor (Cicero: Balbus … praetōrius fuit).[3][6]

Church Latin glosses it “praetorian”.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the cohors praetōria.[3][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro: praetōrium iūs.[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a commander, cohors praetōria, a general's bodyguard.[3][6]
  2. Of the emperor's guard, praetorian.[3][1][7]
  3. Of a praetor or propraetor; exercised by the praetor.[3][6]
  4. Of praetorian rank, (as noun) an ex-praetor.[3][6]

Word family

  • praetōrium

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson