ostiarius Latin · revision 33652

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=ine-pro *h₃eh₁-os}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [oːs.tiˈaː.ri.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [os.tiˈaː.ri.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ōstiārius''' ''m'' (genitive ōstiāriī or ōstiārī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Inscriptions also have ''ustiārius''.^(TLL)

+ The feminine ''ōstiāria'' is a female doorkeeper.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ōstium|-ārius|t1=door]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan derives [[m|la|ōstium]] from an adjective ⟨*ōs-to-⟩ “having a mouth”, from [[m|la|ōs#1|t=mouth]],^(de Vaan 2008) which he traces to [[itc-pro|*ōs-]] and [[ine-pro|*h₃eh₁-os|t=mouth]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sa|आस्|tr=ā́s-|t=mouth]] and [[sga|á|t=mouth]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Varro,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of a doorkeeper in his work on farming.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a janitor or porter,^(OLD 2012) in Varro, Pliny the Elder and the Vulgate;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Suetonius records that in early times the rich sometimes kept their doorkeepers chained.^(Lewis & Short 1879) As an adjective it means belonging to a door, as in the Vulgate's ''ancilla ōstiāria'', the portress in John.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The Theodosian Code uses it in the Church for a sexton,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and in medieval Latin the doorkeeper is the lowest of the minor orders; it is also a household officer and an usher or court official.^(Niermeyer 1976) The neuter ''ōstiārium'' is a door tax.^(Lewis & Short 1879) English [[m|en|usher]] comes through Old French from a Vulgar Latin variant ''*ustiārius''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro, of a doorkeeper.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius, of doorkeepers kept in chains.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, of a portress.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 438 AD – The Theodosian Code, of a church doorkeeper.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – The lowest of the minor orders; an usher at court.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|doorkeeper]], [[m|en|janitor]], [[m|en|porter]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A church doorkeeper, [[m|en|sexton]];^(Lewis & Short 1879) the lowest of the minor orders.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A household officer;^(Niermeyer 1976) an [[m|en|usher]], a court official.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or belonging to a door.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ostiārium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ōstium]]

+ * [[iānitor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}