tribunal

Forms

tribūnal n (genitive tribūnālis); third declension^[1] A nominative tribūnāle occurs in an inscription;^[2][3] Quintilian treats it as pedantic.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from tribūnus (“tribune”) with the suffix -al,^[2][1][4] as if the neuter of an adjective ⟨*tribūnālis⟩.^[1] ⟨Tribūnus⟩ is from tribus (“tribe”),^[5][4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *triþu- (“tripartite entity”) and, following Weiss, to Proto-Indo-European *tri-dʰh₁-u- (“tripartite division”); it is cognate with Umbrian trifu (“district”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Cicero as its first author.^[6] In the Verrines he tells of verses written above the tribunal, over the praetor's head.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the raised platform on which a magistrate's chair stood, where he sat to hear cases, and also such a platform in a military camp or a provincial court, where Cicero's captives were auctioned.^[2][3] Prō tribūnālī means officially.^[2] It is also a platform for other uses, for seats in a theatre, in a round temple (Vitruvius), a monument for the dead (Tacitus), and the mounds on which Pliny's coastal people built their huts.^[2][1]

In medieval Latin it was a royal seat or throne, a gallery or ambo, and the raised east end of a church.^[7] English tribunal (early 15th century) first meant a judgment seat; the sense “court of justice” dates from the 1580s.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the praetor's platform.^[2][6]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of a platform in a temple.^[2][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a monument.^[2][6]
• early 15th century – English tribunal, a judgment seat.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A raised platform for a magistrate's chair; a judgment seat, prō tribūnālī, officially.^[2][1][3]
2. A platform in a camp or provincial court.^[2]
3. A platform for other uses (in a theatre or temple); a cenotaph; a mound, embankment.^[2][1]
4. (by metonymy) A court of law; judgment.^[1]
5. (Medieval Latin) A throne; a gallery, ambo; the raised east end of a church.^[7]

Related words

• tribuārius
• tribūlis
• tribūnātus
• tribūnīcius
• tribūnus
• tribuō
• tribus
• tribūtārius
• tribūtim
• tribūtiō
• English tribunal

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill