tribunicius

Forms

tribūnicius (feminine tribūnicia, neuter tribūnicium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] It is also spelled tribūnītius.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from tribūnus (“tribune”) with the suffix -icius.^[3][1] ⟨Tribūnus⟩ is from tribus (“tribe”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *triþu- (“tripartite entity”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Cicero as its first author.^[5] He speaks of crūdēlitās tribūnicia, the cruelty of a tribune, and of tribūnicia potestās, the power of the tribunes demanded back by the people.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is used of a military tribune, as Quintus Cicero's discipline kept by the tribunes' counsel, and more often of a tribune of the plebs and his office: tribūnicia potestās was the tribunes' power, and a viātor tribūnicius was a tribune's attendant (Valerius Maximus).^[3][2] As a noun tribūnicius is a former tribune, who kept that rank (Cicero), and in an inscription a man who had been tribune of a college.^[3]

In medieval Latin a vir tribūniciae potestātis was a deputy, a vicar.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of tribunes' power and of former tribunes.^[3][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of the tribunes' power.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a military tribune.^[3][1]
2. Of a tribune of the plebs, tribunician, tribūnicia potestās, the tribunes' power.^[3][1][2]

Noun

1. A former tribune.^[3][1]

Related words

• tribūnus
• tribus
• tribūnal

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill