praeses Latin · revision 32222

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *sed-eh₁-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praeses''' ''m'' or f (genitive praesidis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|prae-|sedeō|t1=before|t2=to sit]], a root noun in *-se(d)s like [[m|la|obses|t=hostage]]: one who sits in front.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|sedeō]] to [[itc-pro|*sed-ē-|t=to be seated]] and [[ine-pro|*sed-eh₁-|t=to be seated]].^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore derived it instead from [[m|la|praesum|t=to be at the head]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Rudens'' sends two guards home from their post.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a guardian or protector, as Cicero calls the tribune of the plebs the guardian of liberty and the senate the guardian of the state; it is used of tutelary gods, as Mercury the protector of youth, and of abstract things, as Celsus' medicine, the art that guards human health.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Under the Empire it becomes a general term for any provincial governor: Tacitus speaks of Vitellius as governor of Syria, and a jurist explains that proconsuls and imperial legates are all called by it.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it president, chairperson.^(Stelten 1995) In Medieval Latin it is a provincial governor, a Carolingian or feudal count, the mayor of the palace, or a margrave or duke.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of guards at a post.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of guardians of liberty and of tutelary gods.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus of the governor of a province.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|guardian]], warden, protector; of gods, a tutelary deity.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A head or chief; a [[m|en|president]].^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A provincial [[m|en|governor]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|count]]; the mayor of the palace; a margrave or duke.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[praesidalis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[praesideo|alt=praesideō]]

+ * [[obses]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}