pontificius Latin · revision 33508

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [pɔn.tɪˈfɪ.ki.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [pon.tiˈfiː.t͡ʃi.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pontificius''' (feminine pontificia, neuter pontificium); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|pontifex|-ius|t1=pontiff, member of the college of priests]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan reports a consensus that [[m|la|pontifex]] means “bridge-maker”, from [[m|la|pōns|t=bridge]], which he traces to [[ine-pro|*pónt-h₁-s|t=road]]; the meaning developed from road to bridge.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[grc|πάτος|tr=pátos|t=path]] and [[m|grc|πόντος|tr=póntos|t=sea]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL and Köbler record it first in Cato,^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) and the TLL notes that it is found only in prose, from Cato, Hemina, Cicero and Varro on.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means belonging to a pontifex or to the college of pontiffs: Cicero speaks of the ''librī pontificiī'', the pontifical books, and of ''iūs pontificium'', pontifical law.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Ammianus uses the masculine plural alone for those books.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The neuter ''pontificium'', used as a noun from Gellius on and mostly by Christian writers,^(TLL) means the power or right to do something in Gellius and Symmachus, and the dignity of a pontiff or bishop in Solinus and the Theodosian Code.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Manuscripts often confuse the adjective with ''pontifex''.^(TLL) In medieval British Latin it means episcopal or papal, as in a papal chaplain of 1254;^(DMLBS) ''iūs pontificium'' is canon law, ''religiō pontificia'' Roman Catholicism, and the masculine used as a noun means a papist.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – First recorded, in Cato.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the pontifical books and pontifical law.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the neuter ''pontificium'' for a power or right.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 390 AD – Ammianus has ''pontificiī'' for the pontifical books.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1254 – A papal chaplain, ''capellānus pontificius'', in British Latin.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a [[pontifex]] or the college of pontiffs, [[m|en|pontifical]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|episcopal|alt=Episcopal]], [[m|en|papal]];^(DMLBS) ''iūs pontificium'', [[m|en|canon law]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(masculine plural)'' The pontifical books.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(neuter, pontificium)'' The power or right to do something; the dignity of a pontiff or [[m|en|bishop]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, masculine)'' A [[m|en|papist]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pontifex]]

+ * [[pontificālis]]

+ * [[pontificātus]]

+ * [[pōns]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}