togatus

Forms

togātus (feminine togāta, neuter togātum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from toga with the suffix -ātus (“provided with”).^[2][3] De Vaan derives ⟨toga⟩ from Proto-Italic *togā- (“cover, cloak”), from the root of tegō (“to cover”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg-e/o- (“to cover”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,^[4] who quotes a word from a togāta of Afranius;^[2] Köbler's first author is Virgil.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is wearing a toga, the formal outdoor dress of Roman citizens, as Cicero's men in togas for whom there could be no hiding-place in the public baths, and Virgil's Romans, “masters of the world, the people of the toga”.^[2][5] The toga being the dress of peace, it is also civilian, as Cicero's boast that he, a consul in a toga, had defeated armed men.^[2] It marks Roman status, as opposed to Sicilians or provincials, and Gallia togāta is the part of northern Italy between the Po and the Alps.^[2] As a feminine noun, togāta (fābula) is a Latin comedy on a native theme, played in Roman dress.^[2]

As a masculine noun it is a Roman citizen, and in Imperial Rome a client or a man of humble station, as in Juvenal.^[1][3]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of a comedy in Roman dress.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a civilian consul and of Gallia togāta.^[2][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of the Romans as the people of the toga.^[5][3]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal of clients.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Wearing a toga.^[2][5][1]
2. Civilian; belonging to peacetime.^[2]
3. Having Roman status;^[2] Gallia togāta, Cisalpine Gaul south of the Alps.^[2]

Noun

1. A Roman citizen.^[1]
2. (Imperial Rome) A client, man of humble station.^[1][3]
3. Feminine togāta: a Latin comedy on a Roman theme.^[2]

Word family

• contogatus
• togātārius
• togātulus

Related words

• toga
• togāta
• togula
• tegō
• palliātus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b 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 c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press