quinquagenarius

Pronunciation

• Classical: [kʷiːŋ.kʷaː.ɡeːˈnaː.ri.ʊs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [kʷiŋ.kʷa.d͡ʒeˈnaː.ri.us]^[1]

Forms

quīnquāgēnārius (feminine quīnquāgēnāria, neuter quīnquāgēnārium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quīnquāgēnī (“fifty each”) + -ārius,^[2][1][3] from the distributive of quīnquāgintā (“fifty”).^[1] De Vaan explains the distributive ending ⟨-ēnī⟩ as spread by analogy from the lower numerals, and the numeral itself as a compound of quīnque (“five”) with an old noun for “decad”; ⟨quīnque⟩ goes back to Proto-Italic *kʷenkʷe and Proto-Indo-European *penkʷe (“five”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato,^[4][5] whose treatise on farming speaks of a jar (dōlium) and an urn holding fifty measures.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it means “containing fifty of anything”: Varro has a herd of fifty mares.^[2][6][8] In Vitruvius and Frontinus a fistula quīnquāgēnāria was a water pipe made from a sheet fifty digits wide, and later one with a cross-section of fifty square digits.^[2][6] In law, Gaius uses it of a stake (sacrāmentum) of fifty asses, and Quintilian of a man who asked to be excused military service because he was fifty years old.^[2][8]

In Late Latin, the Vulgate and Jerome use the plural quīnquāgēnāriī as a noun for the officers set over fifty men among the Israelites, “captains of fifty”.^[6][3][8] Augustine speaks of the numerus quīnquāgēnārius, the number fifty,^[3] Hilary of Poitiers uses the feminine for Pentecost,^[8] and Ammianus Marcellinus has timbers fifty feet long.^[3] Medieval writers used it for the number fifty or for a set of fifty,^[9] including a series of fifty psalms.^[5]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a jar holding fifty measures.^[6][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro writes of a herd of fifty mares.^[6][8][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a water pipe.^[2][6][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a man fifty years old.^[2][5]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of a legal stake of fifty asses.^[2][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for captains of fifty.^[6][8][5]
• c. 1115 – A medieval source uses it for a series of fifty psalms.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Containing or consisting of fifty.^[2][6]
2. (of a water pipe) Made from a sheet fifty digits wide; later, having a cross-section of fifty square digits.^[2]
3. (law) Involving a sum of fifty asses.^[2]
4. Fifty years old.^[2][6][8]

Noun

1. (Late Latin, plural) Officers commanding fifty men, captains of fifty.^[6][3][8]
2. (Late Latin, feminine) Pentecost.^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin) The number fifty; a set of fifty, especially fifty psalms.^[9][5]

Related words

• quīnquāgēnī
• quīnquāgintā
• quadrāgēnārius
• sexāgēnārius

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 i j 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 k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ 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