tribunus

Forms

tribūnus m (genitive tribūnī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin tribus + -nus, from the word for a division of the people, “tribe”; it first meant the head of a tribe.^[2][3][1][4] De Vaan, following Weiss, derives tribus from Proto-Italic *triþu- (“tripartite entity”), from Proto-Indo-European *tri-dʰh₁-u- (“tripartite division”), a “thing made in three”; compare Umbrian trifu (“district”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato speaks of the pay a soldier received ā tribūnō aerāriō, “from the paymaster”.^[2] An old inscription has tribūnos mīlitāre (military tribune).^[2] Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In early Rome the tribūnus commanded the troops each tribe supplied (tribūnus celerum was the commander of the cavalry).^[2][3] The title then went to several offices: the military tribunes with consular power who replaced the consuls between 445 and 367 BC; the six senior officers of a legion (tribūnus mīlitum); officers of the urban and praetorian cohorts; the tribūnī aerāriī, who collected the war tax and paid the army; and above all the tribunes of the plebs, first appointed by tradition in 494 BC to protect the plebeians.^[2][1] Towns and associations also had tribunes.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it was a city police officer under a count, or the same as a vicārius or centēnārius.^[7] English tribune is recorded from the late 14th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses tribūnus aerārius.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the tribunes of the plebs vetoing the consuls' law.^[2][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy writes of the tribūnus celerum and of military tribunes with consular power.^[2][6]
• late 14th century – English tribune.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (early Rome) The commander of a tribe's troops;^[2] tribūnus celerum, the commander of the cavalry.^[2]
2. A military tribune (with consular power, 445–367 BC);^[2] one of the six senior officers of a legion.^[2][1]
3. An officer of the urban or praetorian cohorts.^[2]
4. tribūnus aerārius, a paymaster; later a member of a class of judges.^[2][3]
5. tribūnus plēbis, a tribune of the plebs.^[2][1]
6. An official of a town or association.^[2]
7. A chief, commander.^[3][1][8]
8. (Medieval Latin) A city police officer under a count.^[7]

Word family

• tribūnāle
• tribūnātus
• tribūnicius
• tribūnal

Related words

• tribus
• tribuō
• English tribune

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 n o p q 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ 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
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson