publicanus Latin · revision 31112

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=itc-pro *poplo-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [puː.blɪˈkaː.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [pu.bliˈkaː.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pūblicānus''' ''m'' (genitive pūblicānī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|pūblicus|t=public]] with the suffix [[m|la|-ānus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan explains ⟨pūblicus⟩ as originally ⟨*popliko-⟩, from [[m|la|populus|t=people]], with ⟨ū⟩ taken from [[m|la|pūbēs|t=adult population]]; ⟨populus⟩ goes back to [[itc-pro|*poplo-|t=army]], whose origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's first example is Plautus' ''Truculentus'', where people “blame the tax farmers”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As an adjective it is “of the public revenue”, as Cicero's ''muliercula pūblicāna'', the wife of a tax farmer, said with contempt.^(Lewis & Short 1879) As a noun it is a contractor for public works and supplies, and above all for collecting taxes and dues, a tax farmer or publican, as Cicero's ''pūblicānī'' of Asia.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “publican, tax collector, sinner”.^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary) In medieval Latin it was also a court beadle, and by confusion a Paulician heretic.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of tax farmers.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the publicans' wife.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A contractor for public works or supplies.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A tax farmer, [[m|en|publican]], tax collector.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A publican; a sinner.^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A court [[m|en|beadle]]; a Paulician.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the public revenue or its farming.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pūblicāna]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pūblicus]]

+ * [[populus]]

+ * [[portitor]]

+ * [[en|publican]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}