Etymologically
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proconsulatus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proː.kõː.sʊˈɫaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pro.kon.suˈlaː.tus][1]

Forms

prōcōnsulātus m (genitive prōcōnsulātūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōcōnsul (“proconsul”) + -ātus.[2][1][3] De Vaan explains cōnsul (“consul”) as a noun made to the verb cōnsulō (“to deliberate, consult”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *kom-se/ol-e/o- (“to consult”) and Proto-Indo-European *s(e)lh₁-e/o- (“to take”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek εἷλον (heîlon, “I took”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Pliny the Elder.[3] Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan and cite Pliny, Tacitus and Pliny the Younger.[5]

Semantic evolution

It means the office or rank of a proconsul, the proconsulship.[2][5][1] Suetonius uses it once of a propraetorship.[5][1] In inscriptions it is abbreviated, from the late 3rd century on, as proc, procos or procons.[6] In medieval British Latin John of Salisbury uses it of the office of a justiciar.[7]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, the office of proconsul.[5][3]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, in the Annals.[5][3]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius, of a propraetorship.[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The office or rank of a prōcōnsul, proconsulship.[2][5][1]
  2. A propraetorship.[5][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The office of a justiciar.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b 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 d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b 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