Etymologically
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vernaculus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [wɛrˈnaː.kʊ.ɫʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [verˈnaː.ku.lus][1]

Forms

vernāculus (feminine vernācula, neuter vernāculum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from verna “home-born slave” with the suffix -culus.[2][1][3] Inscriptions have ⟨vernācl-⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of what belongs to the household.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant of the household, domestic, home-grown, and as a noun a home-born slave, as in Apuleius, and Tacitus' vernācula multitūdō was the rabble of slaves.[2][3][5] From Varro it meant native to a country, indigenous, and in Caesar of troops locally raised.[2] In Tacitus it meant low-bred, and in Seneca a vernāculus was a low wit, a buffoon.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant common, vernacular, native, and as a noun a home-born slave.[6] Medieval Latin used it of allodial land and as a noun of a serf or a church tributary.[7] English vernacular came about 1600, “native to a country”.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of the household.[2][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the native.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of local troops.[2][4]
  • c. 1600 – English vernacular is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the household, domestic; as a noun, a home-born slave.[2]
  2. Native, indigenous; of troops, locally raised.[2]
  3. Low-bred; as a noun, a buffoon.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) As a noun, a serf.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com