commilito Latin · revision 31331

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''commīlitō''' ''m'' (genitive commīlitōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''conmīlitō'' and ''comīlitō''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|con-|t=together]] and [[m|la|mīlitō|t=to serve as a soldier]] with the noun suffix [[m|la|-ō]], or from [[m|la|mīles|t=soldier]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan calls the first part of ⟨mīles⟩ unclear; it may be linked with [[m|la|mīlia|t=thousands]], “who goes with the thousand”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cicero has “this young man, who was my soldier in Cilicia and my fellow soldier in Greece”, in the speech for King Deiotarus;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler also gives Cicero.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a fellow soldier or comrade in war, most often in the historians after Augustus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Julius Caesar, according to Suetonius, and later the emperors addressed their soldiers as ''commīlitōnēs'', “comrades”, as in Tacitus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In colloquial speech it is a mate, as in Petronius.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “fellow soldier”.^(Stelten 1995) In Medieval Latin it is a knight of a lord's household, a fellow vassal and a fellow ''ministeriālis''.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a fellow soldier.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius of a dear comrade.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus of an emperor addressing his troops.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A fellow soldier, [[m|en|comrade]] in arms;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''(as an address)'' comrades.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A comrade, mate.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A household knight; a fellow [[m|en|vassal]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mīles]]

+ * [[mīlitō]]

+ * [[commīles]]

+ * [[sodālis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A rare verb ''commīlitō'', “to fight on the same side”, is found only figuratively, in Florus' moon “fighting alongside”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}