tutela

Forms

tūtēla f (genitive tūtēlae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from ⟨tūt-⟩, the stem of tueor (“to watch over, protect”), with the suffix -ēla.^[2][1] De Vaan takes “watch over, protect” as the first meaning of the verb and finds attractive a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to be strong”), the root of Sanskrit तवस् (tavás, “strong”), so “keep strong, protect”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Plautus' Trinummus a slave says he is a fool to care for public affairs rather than guard his own back.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is guardianship, protection or custody, and concretely a source of safety: Cornelius Severus calls Cicero the one protection of the troubled.^[2] It is the guardian deity of a place or a ship, as Ovid's Priapus, guardian of gardens.^[2] In law it is the guardianship of a minor, and in suam tūtēlam venīre is to come of age.^[2] It is also the thing protected, as Horace's girls and boys in Diana's care, a ward, and the upkeep of people, animals or buildings.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “charge, care, safeguard, guardianship, guardian, protector”.^[5] In Medieval Latin it is protection given to a person, the charge of a church's lay advocate, and the dedication of a church to a patron saint.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of guardianship.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of coming of age.^[2][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of those in a goddess's care.^[2][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a guardian god.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Guardianship, protection, care, tutelage.^[2][1][5]
2. A protector; a guardian deity.^[2][5]
3. (law) Guardianship of a minor.^[2][1]
4. A charge, someone protected; a ward.^[2][1]
5. Maintenance, upkeep.^[2]
6. (Medieval Latin) The charge of a church's advocate; the dedication of a church to a patron saint.^[6]

Word family

• prōtūtēla
• tūtēlāris
• tūtēlārius
• tutelator
• tutelatus

Related words

• tueor
• tūtor
• tūtus

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 n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill