pontifex Latin · revision 30644

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la pōns, la faciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈpɔn.tɪ.fɛks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɔn.ti.feks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pontifex''' ''m'' (genitive pontificis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''pontufex'', and ''pontefex'' in an inscription.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is apparently [[af|la|pōns|-fex|t1=bridge|t2=maker]], from [[m|la|faciō|t=to make]], “bridge-maker”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) Lewis & Short and the TLL point out that the Romans themselves no longer knew the original sense;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) de Vaan reports that most scholars accept “bridge-maker”, in the sense of one who mediates between gods and men.^(de Vaan 2008) Since [[m|la|pōns]] continues [[ine-pro|*pónt-h₁-s|t=road]], the TLL compares an Old Indic compound “path-maker” used of seers.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) Varro quotes the pontifex maximus Quintus Scaevola, who derived it from [[m|la|possum]] and [[m|la|faciō]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Cato mentions the record kept on a tablet at the house of the ''pontifex maximus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''pontificēs'' were a college of priests with supreme control over the public religion of Rome; their head was the ''pontifex maximus'' (Cato, Cicero, Livy), and the ''pontificēs minōrēs'', first assistants, became a lower grade of priest.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Juvenal calls the emperor Domitian ''pontifex summus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Christian Latin it was a bishop, and especially the bishop of Rome, ''summus pontifex'' could be an archbishop or the Pope, and ''pontifex'' alone came to mean the Pope.^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary) English [[m|en|pontiff]] (c. 1600) comes from it through French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato mentions the ''pontifex maximus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro reports Scaevola's etymology.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1600 – English [[m|en|pontiff]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pontifex]], one of the college of priests in charge of Roman public religion, ''pontifex maximus'', its head.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A [[m|en|bishop]], ''summus pontifex'', an archbishop.^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' The [[m|en|pope|alt=Pope]].^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pontificālis]]

+ * [[pontificātus]]

+ * [[pontificium]]

+ * [[pontificius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pōns]]

+ * [[faciō]]

+ * [[en|pontiff]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}