vitricus

Forms

vītricus m (genitive vītricī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny derive it from Proto-Indo-European *(d)u̯i-tero- (“second, other”), but de Vaan objects that this does not explain the long ⟨ī⟩ and has no other solution.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in an inscription and in Cicero,^[3] who uses it in his letters to Atticus and his speeches.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It means a stepfather, in Cicero, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and Suetonius.^[2][4] In Ovid's Amores it is used of Vulcan as the stepfather of Cupid.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero.^[4][3][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of Vulcan as Cupid's stepfather.^[4][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stepfather.^[2][4][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d 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 f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de