magister Latin · revision 2743

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=3rd century BC, inscriptions|origins=ine-pro *meg-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [maˈɡɪs.tɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [maˈd͡ʒis.ter]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''magister''' ''m'' (genitive magistrī, feminine magistra); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Inscriptions of the 3rd century BC have ''macister'' and a nominative plural ''magistreis'', and Quintilian records the old spelling ''magester''.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|magis|-ter|t1=more]], a contrastive formation meaning “he who is greater”, the counterpart of [[minister]] “he who is lesser”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) ''Magis'' is the comparative of the root [[ine-pro|*meg-|t=great]] seen in [[magnus]].^(Etymonline)^(Georges 1913) Wiktionary reconstructs [[itc-pro|*magisteros]], and the OLD compares [[xum|mestru|t=greater]].^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) The jurists explained the word from the greater care those in charge must take.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from inscriptions of the 3rd century BC.^(Köbler 2010) Plautus uses it of the head of a curia, of a slave in charge of boys and of a [[m|en|teacher]], and Ennius of the Master of the Horse.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Magister populi'' was the old title of the dictator and ''magister equitum'' that of his deputy, and the word named the commander of a force, a ship's captain or helmsman, and the head of a religious college or guild, as in the decree on the Bacchanalia of 186 BC.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was also the manager of a tax-farming company or a troupe of gladiators, the receiver of a bankrupt's estate, a master of ceremonies, a keeper or driver of animals, a chief herdsman, and an expert at the top of his profession.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Its commonest sense was a teacher: of rhetoric, grammar or law, a schoolmaster or tutor, the slave who accompanied boys, a trainer in fencing or gymnastics, and figuratively anything that teaches, such as fear, “the teacher of duty”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Medieval Latin used it for a slave foreman, the head of tenants, a local judge, a market officer or mint-master, a burgomaster, a guild master, a master builder, a provost and a professor, and as the university title of a master licensed to teach.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Most Romance languages keep it, as Sardinian ''magistru'', Italian ''maestro'', Old French ''maistre'' and Romanian ''măiestru'',^(DÉRom)^(Wiktionary) and English [[m|en|master]] goes back to late Old English ''mægester'', taken directly from Latin and later reshaped after Old French; [[m|en|mister]] is its unstressed variant.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 3rd century BC – Inscriptions have ''macister'' and ''magistreis''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a teacher and of the head of a curia.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius names the ''magister equitum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 186 BC – The decree on the Bacchanalia forbids anyone to be ''magister'' of the rites.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of teachers of rhetoric, tax farmers and models to imitate.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a helmsman.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 773 – A charter has a medieval sense.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late Old English period – [[en|master|alt=Master]] is borrowed into English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A chief, a director, as in ''magister populi'', the dictator, and ''magister equitum'', the Master of the Horse.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A military commander.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A ship's captain; a helmsman.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The head of a college or guild; the president of a district's rites.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A manager of a company or troupe; a receiver in bankruptcy; a master of ceremonies.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A keeper or driver of animals; a chief herdsman.^(OLD 2012)

+ # An expert, a [[m|en|master]] of a craft.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|teacher]], a schoolmaster, a tutor; a trainer; a model to imitate.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A foreman; a manorial officer; a mint-master; a guild master; a master builder; a professor; a university master.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[commagister]]

+ * [[magisterius]]

+ * [[magistra]]

+ * [[magistrālis]]

+ * [[magistrātus]]

+ * [[magistrianus]]

+ * [[magistrō]]

+ * [[prōmagister]]

+ * [[ludimagister]]

+ * [[magisterium]]

+ * [[magisterō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[magis]]

+ * [[magnus]]

+ * [[minister]]

+ * [[en|master]]

+ * [[en|mister]]

+ * [[en|maestro]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein takes ''magister'' as the teacher in a general sense, superior in knowledge to the laity, [[doctor]] as one who imparts theory and [[praeceptor]] as one who leads to practice.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}