Etymologically
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primipilaris

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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]

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