excubiae Latin · revision 32136

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=itc-pro *kubā̆je/o-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''excubiae''' ''f pl'' (genitive excubiārum); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|excubō|-ia|t1=to lie out, keep watch]], and grammarians state that it is used only in the plural.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) The verb is [[m|la|ex-]] with [[m|la|cubō|t=to lie]], which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*kubā̆je/o-|t=to be lying]]; because of the /b/ and its restriction to Italic and Celtic, a PIE origin of the root is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[xfa|cupat|t=lies]] and [[wlm|kyscu|t=to sleep]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) but Plautus already uses it in the prologue of the ''Casina'', of a lying out away from home.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means a keeping of watch or guard, a vigil, and is far more frequent in this sense, as in Cicero's “if these arms, these cohorts on the Capitol, these watches and guards”.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Virgil calls a perpetual fire the eternal watch of the gods, and Pliny the Elder says that cranes keep watch at night.^(Lewis & Short 1879) As a concrete noun it is a body of guards: Varro says that the Esquiline was named from the king's guards, and Tacitus and Suetonius use it of guards.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''excubiae'', sentinels before a palace as guards of honour, from ''[[statio|alt=statiōnēs]]'', outposts at a gate, and ''[[vigilia|alt=vigiliae]]'', night patrols in the streets.^(Döderlein 1874) In medieval Latin it can mean night offices in church, a funeral service, castle-guard, or labour service, and it also appears in the singular.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of lying out away from home.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of the king's guards.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of watches and guards.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of the eternal watch of the gods.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus of guards.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The keeping of watch or guard, a [[m|en|vigil]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A body of men keeping watch, a [[m|en|guard]], [[m|en|sentinel|alt=sentinels]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Night offices; a funeral service; castle-guard; labour service.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[excubo|alt=excubō]]

+ * [[cubo|alt=cubō]]

+ * [[vigilia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}