signifer Latin · revision 10084

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Lucretius|origins=la signum, la ferō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈsɪŋ.nɪ.fɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsiɲ.ɲi.fer]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''signifer''' (feminine signifera, neuter signiferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[signum]] “sign, standard” and [[m|la|-fer]] from [[ferō]] “to bear”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces ⟨signum⟩ to [[itc-pro|*sekno-|t=statue, sign]], [[ine-pro|*sek(h₂)-no-|t=cut]], from the root of [[secō]] “to cut”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation for the adjective is Lucretius, of the starry sky, and Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a poetic adjective it meant bearing images, as of a ship's stern in Lucan, and of the sky bearing the constellations, as in Lucretius.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Lewis & Short 1879) As a noun it was a military standard-bearer, as in Cicero and Caesar.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it means standard-bearer, the leader of a procession.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for a banner-bearer and of something bearing a pennon.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the sky.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a standard-bearer.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Bearing images; starry.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|standard-bearer]].^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[signum]]

+ * [[ferō]]

+ * [[aquilifer]]

+ * [[vexillārius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}