triumviralis

Forms

triumvirālis (neuter triumvirāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin triumvir (“one of a board of three men”) + -ālis.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Horace,^[3][4] who in the Epodes speaks of a man cut by the flagella triumvirālia, the whips of the triumvirs who had charge of prisons and punishments.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It was used of the triumvirī capitālēs, who carried out punishments: Tacitus' triumvirāle supplicium is the death penalty that they executed.^[4][5][6] It was also used of the triumvirate of Octavian, Antony and Lepidus, whose proscription Seneca and Quintilian call triumvirālis prōscrīptiō,^[6][5] and the elder Seneca speaks of triumvirālia arma.^[5] Lactantius still uses the phrase for the proscription.^[4][5]

English borrowed it as triumviral.^[1]

Timeline

• 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of the triumvirs' whips.^[4][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the triumvirs' proscription.^[4][5][3]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian writes of the triumvirālis prōscrīptiō.^[6][3]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus has the triumvirāle supplicium.^[4][5][3]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius mentions the proscription.^[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a triumvir or triumvirs.^[2][4]
2. Of the triumvirī capitālēs, who had charge of prisons and executions: triumvirāle supplicium, the death penalty.^[4][5][6]
3. Of the triumvirate of Octavian, Antony and Lepidus: triumvirālis prōscrīptiō, their proscription.^[6][5]

Related words

• English triumviral

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier