secretarium

Forms

sēcrētārium n (genitive sēcrētāriī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sēcrētus (“set apart, secret”) + -ārium.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is post-classical.^[3] The first author to use it is Apuleius, who speaks of fires “held in the hidden places of the earth” (ignes quī terrae sēcrētāriīs continentur), that is, of a secluded or hidden place.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Its general sense was a retreat or hiding place.^[2][3] In Late Latin it became the room set apart where judges heard cases, a sense found in Lactantius and the law codes;^[3][6] an inscription uses it of a meeting hall of the Senate.^[7] Among Christians it named the clergy's place of assembly or conclave^[3] and the sacristy of a church, as in Sulpicius Severus,^[4][6] and Augustine used it figuratively for the inner sanctuary of the mind (sēcrētārium mentis).^[4][6]

In Medieval Latin it kept the senses of court room and church assembly hall, and also meant the king's private council chamber, a session of a church council, a vestry or parlour of a church, and the office of a sexton.^[8] Du Cange records it also for a reliquary and for a crypt.^[9] Stelten gives a private chapel as an Ecclesiastical Latin sense.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of the hidden places of the earth.^[3][4][5]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it for the judges' council chamber.^[3][6][5]
• c. 363–c. 420 AD – Sulpicius Severus uses it for the sacristy of a church.^[4][6][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine speaks of the sēcrētārium mentis, the sanctuary of the mind.^[4][6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A secluded or hidden place, a retreat.^[2][3]
2. (Late Latin) A council chamber where judges sat, a court room; also a meeting hall of the Senate.^[3][7][6]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A place of assembly of the clergy, a conclave; the session of a church council.^[3][8]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A sacristy or vestry; a private chapel.^[4][8][10]
5. (figurative) An inner sanctuary: sēcrētārium mentis, the innermost part of the mind.^[4][6]
6. (Medieval Latin) The king's private council chamber.^[8]
7. (Medieval Latin) The office of a sexton.^[8]
8. (Medieval Latin) A reliquary; a crypt.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson