Etymologically
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tabellarius

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ta.bɛlˈlaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ta.belˈlaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

tabellārius (feminine tabellāria, neuter tabellārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tabella (“small tablet; letter; voting tablet”) + -ārius.[2][1] De Vaan derives tabella from tabula (“board”), whose origin he calls uncertain: perhaps Proto-Italic *taþlā-, a root meaning to stand with an instrument suffix.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero.[4] In the OLD's earliest quotation for the noun he was about to send letter carriers to his correspondents the next day.[2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it relates to tablets: an inscription has direction posts set up along a road, and a ⟨lēx tabellāria⟩ is a law on voting by secret ballot, as Cassius' in Cicero.[2] Seneca describes the ⟨nāvēs tabellāriae⟩ that are sent ahead to announce a fleet.[2] As a noun it is a letter carrier or courier, and in inscriptions a clerk or bookkeeper.[2] Church Latin glosses it courier, postman.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of letter carriers and of a ballot law.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of dispatch ships.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of tablets or letters;[2][6][1] lēx tabellāria, a law on voting by ballot;[2][6][1] nāvis tabellāria, a dispatch ship.[2][6][1]
  2. A direction post.[2]

Noun

  1. A letter carrier, courier, messenger.[2][6][1][5]
  2. A clerk, bookkeeper.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press