Etymology and origin of the Latin word proconsularis
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 59 BC–17 AD, Livy
- Ultimate origin
- Latin (prōcōnsul)
Forms
prōcōnsulāris (neuter prōcōnsulāre); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] The Code and Novels of Justinian also have a form prōcōnsulārius.[2]
Etymology
It is from Latin prōcōnsul (“proconsul”) + -āris.[3][1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Köbler and the TLL record it first in Livy,[4][2] who has prōcōnsulāris imāgō, which Georges explains as a mere shadow of consular power, said of the military tribunes who had taken the consuls' place.[5][2]
Semantic evolution
It means of or belonging to a proconsul, as in prōcōnsulāre imperium, proconsular command, and prōcōnsulāris vir, a proconsul.[3][6][5] Lewis & Short note that it is not in Cicero or Caesar;[6] the TLL finds it once or twice each in Livy, Valerius Maximus, Fronto and Gellius, eight times in Tacitus, more often in the Historia Augusta and the Theodosian Code, and in verse only in Martianus Capella.[2] The epitome of Livy writes that Pompey was sent against Sertorius cum imperiō prōcōnsulārī, and the jurist Ulpian that a proconsul has the proconsular insignia everywhere as soon as he has left the city.[2] Prōvincia prōcōnsulāris, in inscriptions, is the province of Africa.[6] Augustine has gesta prōcōnsulāria, the records of a proconsul's court.[2][5] The word passed into Greek,[2] and Italian has proconsolare from it.[7]
Timeline
- 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has prōcōnsulāris imāgō.[2][4]
- 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it eight times.[2][4]
- c. 165 AD – Gellius has imperium prōcōnsulāre.[6][4]
- before 223 AD – Ulpian writes of the proconsular insignia.[2][4]
- 354–430 AD – Augustine has gesta prōcōnsulāria.[2][5][4]
Meanings
Adjective
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry
“Proconsularis.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/proconsularis. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.
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