senex

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsɛ.nɛks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.neks]^[1]

Forms

senex m or f (genitive senis); third declension^[1] Plautus has an old nominative plural senicēs, and an old genitive senicis is reported.^[2][3] The comparative is senior.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sen-ek- (“old man”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sen-(o-) (“old”).^[4][1] De Vaan suggests that an older thematic *seno-, as in Celtic, became an i-stem in Latin under the influence of iuvenis.^[4] Cognate with Old Irish sen (“old”), Welsh hen (“old”), Sanskrit सन (sána-, “old”), Ancient Greek ἕνος (hénos, “of last year”), Lithuanian sẽnas (“old”) and Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (sineigs, “old”).^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius speaks of an old man who, trusting in the gods, prayed to Neptune.^[2][4] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was an old man and, as an adjective, old or aged, as Cato's advice to sell an old slave.^[2] Wiktionary places it above iuvenis in age.^[1] Its derivatives senātus “council of elders” and senior “older” became words of rank.^[4][6] Döderlein contrasts it with vetus and with iuvenis.^[7]

Medieval writers also used it of Satan.^[8] It survives as Romanian sânec, and was borrowed as Italian sene.^[1] English senate and senior come from its derivatives.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato advises selling an old slave (servum senem).^[2][5]
• c. 1200 – English senate is recorded, from senātus, a derivative of senex.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An old man.^[2][3]
2. An old person.^[1]
3. (Medieval Latin) Satan.^[8]

Adjective

1. Old, aged.^[2][9]

Word family

• cōnsenior
• persenex
• sēmisenex
• senātus
• seneciō
• senectus
• seneō
• senica,
• seniculus
• senīlis
• senium
• senius

Related words

• senior
• English senate
• English senior
• English senile

Usage notes

Isidore notes that senex is only masculine, as anus “old woman” is only feminine.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).