thesaurarius

Forms

thēsaurārius (feminine thēsaurāria, neuter thēsaurārium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Also spelled thēnsaurārius.^[1][2] Medieval spellings include tēszaurārius, thēsorārius and trēserārius.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure”) + -ārius.^[1][4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it in the Aulularia, in the phrase fures thesaurarii, “treasure thieves”.^[1][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a rare adjective meaning “of treasure”.^[1][4] In Late Latin it became a noun for a treasurer, a keeper of a treasury, in Venantius Fortunatus and the letters of Isidore of Seville,^[2][5] and the neuter thēsaurārium was used for treasure in Cassiodorus^[4] and for a strongbox in Augustine.^[6]

Medieval Latin used the noun for the treasurer of a king or of a church;^[7][8] Du Cange cites Desiderius, treasurer of King Dagobert.^[8] British sources also have the adjective for what contains treasure or is itself precious.^[9] It lived on in Neo-Latin, where Ramminger quotes a treasurer of the Empire.^[10] Köbler traces Middle Low German tesaurāriære to it.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of “treasure thieves”.^[1][3]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses the neuter for treasure.^[4][3]
• 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus uses it for a treasurer.^[2][5][3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it for a treasurer in his letters.^[2][11][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or concerned with treasure.^[1][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) Containing treasure; precious.^[9]

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A treasurer, keeper of a treasury.^[2][11][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) The treasurer of a king, a church or another body.^[7][8]

Usage notes

The neuter thēsaurārium was used as a noun in Late Latin, for treasure or for a strongbox.^[4][6]

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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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. ^ a b VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b 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
10. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
11. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.