Etymology and origin of the Latin word proximatus
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 438 Codex Theodosianus More words from the 5th century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin proximus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
From the same root
Forms
proximātus m (genitive proximātūs); fourth declension[1][2]
Etymology
It is from Latin proximus (“nearest, next”).[3][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is found in the Theodosian Code, in laws about the officials who rose to be the proximus, the official next below the magister scriniorum, head of a department of the imperial chancery.[3][1]
Semantic evolution
The word stayed a term of the late imperial administration: it named the rank or dignity of the proximus.[3] One of the laws of the Theodosian Code was taken over into the Code of Justinian.[3]
Timeline
- 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it in several laws on the imperial bureaus.[3][4]
- 529 AD – The Code of Justinian repeats one of these laws.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- (Late Latin, administration) The office or rank of proximus, the next place after the magister scriniorum in an imperial bureau.[3][1][2]
Related words
Usage notes
Gaffiot lists a separate proximātus, -a, -um, the past participle of proximō.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry
“Proximatus.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/proximatus. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.
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