Etymologically
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socius

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈsɔ.ki.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɔː.t͡ʃi.us][1]

Forms

socius m (genitive sociī or socī); second declension[1] The archaic genitive plural socium survives in verse and in formulas such as socium Latini nominis.[2][3] An inscription has sokiois and late texts sotius.[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sokjo-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-(h₂)-i-o- (“companion”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”), as in sequor.[3][1][4][5] Cognate with Faliscan sociai (“girlfriend”), with Sanskrit सखा (sákhā, “friend, companion”) and Avestan haxa (“friend”), and with Old Norse seggr (“man, warrior”) and Old English secg (“man, warrior”).[3][1] De Vaan leaves open whether the Latin and Germanic words continue the Indo-Iranian collective in *-h₂- or are o-stem derivatives of a noun or adjective *sokʷ-i-.[3] The unique suffix of Plautus' sociennus is usually taken as Etruscan.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Garigliano bowl, a Very Old Latin inscription, has the ablative plural sokiois;[3] Livius Andronicus uses it of the companions whom the impious Cyclops devoured.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it meant a companion, a partner who shares a responsibility or possession, and, in a bad sense, an accomplice.[2][6] In business it was a partner, with the actio pro socio between partners, and the socii were the members of a trading company, especially of tax farmers.[2] In public life it was an ally bound by treaty, and the socii were the Italian allies of Rome before the Social War, the socii navales those who served in the fleet, and socii Latini nominis the non-citizen allies as a whole; as Roman power grew the word came to mean a provincial.[2]

As an adjective it meant sharing or associated, allied (socia arma, sociae civitates), of allied troops, and, in poetry, shared, as of a marriage bed.[2][6] Medieval writers used the noun for a student, an assistant priest, a kinsman and a bailiff.[4] Romanian soț “husband” and Italian soccio continue it, and Italian, Spanish and Portuguese socio are learned borrowings;[1] the English prefix socio- is taken from it.[7]

Timeline

  • Very Old Latin – The Garigliano bowl inscription has sokiois.[3]
  • c. 280–200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it of companions.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a partner, an accomplice and allies.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of business partners, tax-farming companies and the allies of Rome.[2][4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses the adjective of allied cohorts.[2][4]
  • 13th century – Niermeyer's medieval citations.[4]
  • c. 1880 – The prefix English socio- becomes common in English.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A companion, a comrade.[2][6]
  2. A partner, a colleague; an accomplice.[2][6]
  3. A business partner, and in the plural the members of a trading company, especially tax farmers.[2]
  4. An ally, and in the plural the Italian allies of Rome, or the socii navales, allies serving in the fleet.[2][6]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A student; an assistant priest; a kinsman; a bailiff.[4]

Adjective

  1. Sharing, associated, in partnership; kindred.[2][6]
  2. Allied, confederate; of allied troops.[2]
  3. Shared, common, as of marriage.[2]

Word family

  • associus
  • sociālis
  • sociofraudus
  • socia
  • societās
  • sociennus
  • sociō
  • secus
  • sequor
  • sociābilis
  • sociālitās
  • sociāliter
  • sociātiō
  • sociātrīx
  • English social
  • English society
  • English associate

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes socii, bound by common interests to act together, from sodālēs, bound only by the pleasure of each other's company.[8]

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 j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper