praetorius Latin · revision 30652

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la praetor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [prae̯ˈtoː.ri.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [preˈtɔː.ri.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praetōrius''' (feminine praetōria, neuter praetōrium); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Inscriptions also spell it ''pretōrius''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|praetor|-ius|t1=praetor, commander]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan derives [[m|la|praetor]] from ⟨*prai-itōr⟩, “one who goes before”, from [[m|la|prae]] and [[m|la|eō|t=to go]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler first records it in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who has the ''cohors praetōria'', a commander's bodyguard.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Praetōrius'' first belongs to a military commander (the ''praetor'' in the old sense): the ''cohors praetōria'' was a general's bodyguard (Cicero), and under the Empire the cohorts of the emperor's guard, the Praetorian Guard.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It also belongs to a praetor or propraetor and to the powers vested in him (Varro: ''praetōrium iūs'', Cicero: law made by the praetors' edicts), and describes a man of praetorian rank, one who has been praetor (Cicero: ''Balbus … praetōrius fuit'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “praetorian”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the ''cohors praetōria''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro: ''praetōrium iūs''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a commander, ''cohors praetōria'', a general's bodyguard.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of the emperor's guard, [[m|en|praetorian]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Of a [[m|en|praetor]] or propraetor; exercised by the praetor.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of praetorian rank, ''(as noun)'' an ex-praetor.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[praetōrium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[praetor]]

+ * [[praetūra]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}