Etymologically
Log in

subsidiarius

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

subsidiārius (feminine subsidiāria, neuter subsidiārium); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin subsidium (“reserve troops; support”) + -ārius.[1][3] De Vaan lists subsidium among the derivatives of sedeō (“to sit”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Caesar, in the Civil War, uses it of the reserve cohorts that followed the front line in support.[1][2][5]

Semantic evolution

It was a military term for troops kept in reserve behind the front line;[1][2] Livy uses the masculine plural subsidiāriī as a noun, “the reserves”,[1][2] and the Bellum Africum has a battle line held by the reserves.[1] Columella transfers it to a vine shoot left as a reserve when the vine is pruned.[1][6]

In Roman law the actio subsidiaria was the action by which a ward claimed compensation from the magistrate who had appointed an unsuitable guardian;[1][2][6] Ulpian discusses it in the Digest.[1][2][6] Medieval writers used it more widely for anything that helps or reinforces, and once for a payment in the form of a subsidy.[7] Italian sussidiario and Spanish subsidiario come from it.[8][5]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of reserve cohorts.[1][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses subsidiāriī for the reserves.[1][3]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a reserve vine shoot.[1][3]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian discusses the actio subsidiaria.[1][3]
  • 1283 – A British record uses it of a subsidy.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (military) Supporting the front line, belonging to the reserve.[1][2]
  2. (of a line of battle) Held by the reserves.[1]
  3. (of vine shoots) Kept in reserve.[1][6]
  4. (law) actio subsidiaria, an action of a ward against the magistrate who appointed an unsuitable guardian.[1][2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Serving to help or reinforce; subsidiary.[7]

Noun

  1. (masculine plural) The reserves.[1][2][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c 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
  8. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org