proconsul

Forms

prōcōnsul m (genitive prōcōnsulis); third declension^[1] It is also written separately, prō cōnsule, and abbreviated procos.^[2][3]

Etymology

It was formed from the phrase ⟨prō cōnsule⟩ “in place of a consul”, from prō and cōnsul.^[2][1][4] De Vaan takes ⟨cōnsul⟩ as a noun made to cōnsulō (“to deliberate”), from Proto-Italic *kom-sel- (“adviser”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- (“to take”), cognate with Ancient Greek εἷλον (heîlon, “took”) and Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (saljan, “to sacrifice”); an older view derived it from “sitting together”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the historian Claudius Quadrigarius.^[6] It was first a consul whose command was extended, after his year of office, for military or provincial duties.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The proconsul was originally a consul whose power was prolonged to command an army or govern a province, and later any official of that rank.^[2] Under the Empire it was the governor of a senatorial province: Tacitus has Africa going over to a cause without waiting for the proconsul's authority.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “proconsul, municipal officer”.^[7] In Medieval Latin it could be a viscount, a sheriff, an itinerant royal judge or a burgomaster.^[8] English proconsul dates from the late 14th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 1st century BC – Claudius Quadrigarius.^[6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the abbreviation procos. in letters.^[2][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of the governor of Africa.^[2][6]
• Medieval Latin – viscount, sheriff, burgomaster.^[8]
• late 14th century – English proconsul.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A proconsul, a consul whose command was extended to govern a province or lead an army; any official of that rank.^[2][3][1]
2. Under the Empire, the governor of a senatorial province.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A viscount; a sheriff; an itinerant royal judge; a burgomaster.^[8]

Word family

• prōcōnsulāris
• prōcōnsulātus

Related words

• cōnsulāris
• cōnsulāritās
• cōnsulāriter
• cōnsulārius
• cōnsulātus
• prōpraetor
• prōquaestor
• cōnsul
• English proconsul

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com