decumanus Latin · revision 30817

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius|origins=ine-pro *deḱm-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [dɛ.kʊˈmaː.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [de.kuˈmaː.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''decumānus''' (feminine decumāna, neuter decumānum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''decimānus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|decumus|-ānus|t1=tenth]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ⟨decumus⟩ (later ⟨decimus⟩) is the ordinal of [[m|la|decem|t=ten]], which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*dekm̥]] and [[ine-pro|*deḱm̥|t=ten]], with an ordinal [[m|itc-pro|*dekamo-]]; [[osc|δεκμας|tr=dekmas|t=tithe]] is a related Oscan word.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lucilius has a ''decumānus pānis'', a huge loaf, from the belief that every tenth one in a series was bigger.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It relates to what is tenth: the tenth legion (the ''Bellum Africum''), and a tax of a tenth, as Cicero's tithe-corn.^(OLD 2012) The ''porta decumāna'' was the rear gate of a Roman camp (Caesar).^(OLD 2012) As a noun a ''decumānus'' was a soldier of the tenth legion, a contractor who bought the right to collect the tithes of Sicily, often named with the farmers in Cicero's ''Verrines'', and in surveying a boundary line across the land, usually running east to west; the ''decumānus maximus'' was the main line of the grid.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ In medieval Latin the ''presbyterī decumānī'' were a particular class of the clergy of Milan.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius of a huge loaf.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of tithe-corn and of tithe collectors.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of the ''porta decumāna''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 852 – A charter has it in a medieval sense.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the tenth (legion or cohort).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a [[m|en|tithe]], subject to a tax of a tenth.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(porta decumāna)'' Of the rear gate of a camp.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Huge, outsize.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A soldier of the tenth legion.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A contractor who collected tithes, a [[m|en|tax farmer]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(surveying)'' A boundary line, usually east–west; a main street of a town or camp.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A member of a class of the Milanese clergy.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[decem]]

+ * [[decimus]]

+ * [[decuma]]

+ * [[cardō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}