stipendium

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [stiːˈpɛn.di.ũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [stiˈpɛn.di.um]^[1]

Forms

stīpendium n (genitive stīpendiī or stīpendī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin stips (“small coin”) + pendo (“to weigh out, pay”), shortened from *stipipendium.^[2][1][3] Varro already linked it with stips.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has a character paying mercenaries their wage, and uses it of a season of service.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was the soldiers' regular pay, first paid at the end of a campaign, and stīpendia merēre meant to serve for pay.^[2] By metonymy it was a year of service or a campaign.^[2][1] It was also a cash payment levied on conquered states, later a permanent tax, and Lewis & Short note it was paid in money, unlike vectīgal, paid in kind.^[2][3] Livy uses it of a salary paid from public funds.^[2]

In medieval Latin it was the wages of civilians, a dole for the poor and the allowance of clerics.^[5] In British sources it was pay for military service, often with reference to 1 Corinthians 9:7.^[6] English stipend is recorded in the early 15th century as a periodical payment.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of mercenaries' pay.^[2][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses stīpendia merēre of his service.^[2][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of tribute.^[8][4]
• early 15th century – English stipend is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Soldiers' pay, stīpendia merēre to serve.^[2][3]
2. A year of military service; a campaign.^[2][1]
3. A tax or tribute paid in money.^[2][8]
4. An income, salary, stipend.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) Civil wages; a dole.^[5]

Word family

• stipendialis
• stipendiārius
• stīpendior
• stipendiosus
• stīpendiō

Related words

• stips
• pendō
• English stipend

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.