carnifex Latin · revision 31497

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius|origins=la carō, la faciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkar.nɪ.fɛks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkar.ni.feks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''carnifex''' ''m'' (genitive carnificis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[carō|t=flesh]] and [[m|la|-fex|t=maker, doer]], from [[faciō|t=to make, do]].^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan derives ⟨carō⟩ from [[itc-pro|*kerō(n)|t=piece of meat]] and [[ine-pro|*k(e)rH-n-|t=piece]], cognate with [[xum|karu|t=part]], and ⟨faciō⟩ from [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|t=to put]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Naevius,^(de Vaan 2008) whose comedy has “if I ever did otherwise, bring on the executioner”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the public executioner or hangman, common in Plautus and Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is applied to anyone who kills or tortures, a murderer, butcher or tormentor, and very often in comedy as a term of abuse, scoundrel or villain, as Plautus' “you rogue, don't I know you?”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Pliny the Elder uses it as an adjective, “tormenting”, of the mind.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “executioner”,^(Stelten 1995) and in medieval Latin it is a butcher.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of an executioner.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus as a term of abuse.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a tormenting mind.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|executioner]], hangman.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A murderer, torturer, tormentor.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # As a term of abuse, a scoundrel, [[m|en|villain]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # As an adjective, tormenting.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|butcher]], knacker.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[carnificīna]]

+ * [[carnificius]]

+ * [[carnificus]]

+ * [[carnificō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[carō]]

+ * [[faciō]]

+ * [[artifex]]

+ * [[opifex]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}