stationarius

Forms

statiōnārius (feminine statiōnāria, neuter statiōnārium); first/second-declension adjective; also a noun, statiōnārius m (genitive statiōnāriī); second declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin statiō (“post, station”) + -ārius.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Suetonius,^[4] and Lewis & Short cite his life of Augustus for the stationārii mīlitēs, soldiers on guard posts.^[2] The OLD's earliest citation is Ulpian, who says the prefect of the city should keep such soldiers posted to protect public order.^[1]

Semantic evolution

In imperial Latin it described soldiers on guard or police duty, and as a noun such a soldier;^[1][2] Lewis & Short call them a kind of gendarmerie set up by Augustus against highway robbers.^[2] In late law a statiōnārius was a postmaster at a post station and an officer of the treasury,^[2][3][5] and Isidore uses it of stars that stand still.^[3][6]

Medieval Latin used the adjective for the liturgical “stations” and for processions, for a canon bound to residence and for what is lasting,^[7] and the noun for a sacristan, a shopkeeper and, above all, a bookseller.^[7] British writers used it for whatever is stationary, of planets that seem not to move, and in heraldry.^[8] English stationary comes from the Anglo-Latin adjective, and stationer from the noun for a tradesman with a fixed shop.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has the soldiers on guard posts.^[2][4]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian writes of soldiers posted to keep order in Rome.^[1][4]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it for a postmaster.^[2][4]
• 528–534 AD – The Code of Justinian uses it for a treasury officer.^[4][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore uses it of stars standing still.^[3][4]
• 1169 – Peter of Blois writes of a ship becalmed, made stationary by the dying winds.^[8]
• early 14th century – English borrows the noun as stationer, a bookseller.^[9]
• late 14th century – English borrows the adjective as stationary, of planets.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Belonging to a detachment of soldiers on guard or police duty.^[1][2]
2. (Late Latin) Standing still, fixed, of stars.^[3][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) Used at the liturgical stations or carried in processions; taking part in a procession.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Of a canon, bound to residence; lasting, abiding.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) stationary, not moving; of planets, seeming to stand still.^[8]

Noun

1. A soldier serving in such a detachment; a police soldier.^[1][2]
2. (Late Latin) A postmaster at a post station.^[2][3]
3. (Late Latin) An officer of the treasury.^[2][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) A sacristan.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A merchant with a fixed shop; especially a bookseller.^[7][9]
6. (Medieval Latin) A canon residentiary.^[8]

Related words

• English stationary
• English stationer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com