vervecarius

Forms

vervēcārius m (genitive vervēcāriī); second declension^[1] Variant spellings include berbicārius, verbecārius, verbicārius and vervicārius.^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin vervex (“wether”) + -ārius.^[1] De Vaan reconstructs vervex as Proto-Italic *werw-ē-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ueru-, and compares Ancient Greek εἶρος (eîros, “wool”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Cange cites it from a charter of Saint Irmina of about 698, which grants herdsmen of cattle, pigs and sheep (vervecarios) together with their flocks.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a Late and Medieval Latin word for a shepherd,^[1] written also berbicarius, verbecarius and in other ways.^[1][4] Niermeyer records the adjective for land used for sheep-farming and the noun for a sheep-farmer or a tenant of a sheep-farm,^[4] and British sources have brebicarii as shepherds in 1284.^[5] It lives on in Romanian berbecar and Aromanian birbicar.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 698 – A charter of Saint Irmina grants shepherds with their flocks.^[3]
• 1284 – A Winchester register names brebicarii as shepherds.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) A shepherd.^[1][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) A sheep-farmer, the tenant of a sheep-farm.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
4. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press