primipilaris

Forms

prīmipīlāris m (genitive prīmipīlāris); third declension^[1][2] Also spelled prīmōpīlāris.^[1][2][3] A form prīmipīlārius is found in late inscriptions and law codes; the grammarian Probus condemns it.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin prīmipīlus (“senior centurion of a legion”) + -āris.^[1][3] prīmipīlus is formed from prīmus (“first”) and pīlus² (“a division of the triarii”),^[1][2] a word made from pīlum (“javelin”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it often in inscriptions from the age of Augustus on, and more rarely in authors from Seneca the philosopher, Quintilian and Frontinus on.^[3] Seneca uses it as a noun, of the senior centurion: cessit primipilari, “he gave way to a senior centurion”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the early Empire it is the centurion of the first century of the first cohort, the senior centurion of a legion,^[1] and also a former senior centurion, as in Quintilian's primipilaris senex, “an old ex-senior-centurion”.^[2][6] In the army of the later Empire it is an officer in charge of supplies, a commissary, in the Digest and the Theodosian Code,^[6][2] and as an adjective it means belonging to such an officer.^[6] Sidonius Apollinaris uses it figuratively of a bishop.^[2][6][7] It passed into Greek.^[3] Medieval writers in Britain use it of a senior commander who leads troops into battle and, figuratively, of a champion of the church who carries the banner of faith.^[8]

Timeline

• Age of Augustus – It appears often in inscriptions.^[3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a senior centurion.^[2][3][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian has it of a former senior centurion.^[2][6][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it in the Histories.^[2][7][5]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris calls a bishop a prīmipīlāris.^[2][6][5]
• c. 1199 – Peter of Blois uses it figuratively of a standard-bearer of the faith.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The centurion commanding the first century of the first cohort, the senior centurion of a legion.^[1][2][7]
2. A former senior centurion.^[2][6][7]
3. (Late Latin) A commissary, an officer in charge of army supplies.^[2][6][7]
4. (Late Latin) A bishop (figuratively, in Sidonius).^[2][6]
5. (Medieval Latin) A senior military commander; figuratively, a champion of the faith.^[8]

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to a commissary or a senior centurion.^[2][6]

Related words

• prīmipīlus
• pīlum
• prīmus
• centuriō²

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c 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