pontificatus Latin · revision 33559

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [pɔn.tɪ.fɪˈkaː.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [pon.ti.fiˈkaː.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pontificātus''' ''m'' (genitive pontificātūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|pontifex|-ātus|t1=pontiff]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) [[m|la|pontifex]] is a compound of [[m|la|pōns|t=bridge]] and [[m|la|faciō|t=to make]]; de Vaan reports a consensus that it meant “bridge-maker”, in the sense of one who mediates between gods and men.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL finds it only in prose, from Cicero on;^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) in his speech on the soothsayers' responses he says that solemn rites were held to depend on the pontificate.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the office or dignity of a pontifex,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and ''pontificatus maximus'' that of the chief pontiff, as in Velleius and Suetonius, who has Caesar stand for it.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Velleius and Tacitus treat it as an honour conferred on young men and old.^(TLL) The grammarian Probus recognises only the singular.^(TLL) Christian writers use it from Clement on for the office of a bishop,^(TLL) and in Medieval Latin it is the episcopal or papal dignity, and a bishopric.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the Roman pontificate.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius, of the office of chief pontiff.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius, of Caesar's candidacy for the chief pontificate.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The office or dignity of a [[pontifex]], the [[m|en|pontificate]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''pontificātus maximus'', the office of chief pontiff.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The dignity of a [[m|en|bishop]]; the papal dignity; a [[m|en|bishopric]].^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pontifex]]

+ * [[pontificālis]]

+ * [[pontificius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}