uxorius Latin · revision 33692

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''uxōrius''' (feminine uxōria, neuter uxōrium); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|uxor|-ius|t1=wife]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|uxor]] to [[itc-pro|*uksor-]], with a cognate in [[xfa|uxor|t=wife]];^(de Vaan 2008) its further origin is unclear, and he rejects the explanations that have been proposed.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) in whom a wife's spending, ''sumptus uxorius'', goes on saffron dresses and breast-bands.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its basic sense is of or belonging to a wife.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The phrase ''rēs uxōria'' means the married state, as when Terence speaks of a young man averse to marriage, and also a wife's property, a matter in which Cicero discusses the arbitration.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Festus explains a neuter ''uxōrium'' as a payment made by a man who had no wife.^(OLD 2012) It also means too fond of one's wife, as in a reproach in Virgil: “do you, ''uxorius'', lay the foundations of Carthage and build a fine city?”^(OLD 2012) A declamation ascribed to Quintilian uses the neuter plural for love potions meant to cause such fondness.^(OLD 2012) In Church Latin it is simply pertaining to a wife,^(Stelten 1995) and in medieval texts conjugal or matrimonial.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|uxorious]] (1590s) took the sense “excessively fond of or submissive to one's wife”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a wife's expenses.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence, ''rēs uxōria'', marriage.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, in a reproach for building Carthage.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1590s – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|uxorious]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or belonging to a [[m|en|wife]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''rēs uxōria'', marriage, or a wife's [[m|en|property]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Too fond of one's wife, [[m|en|uxorious]], doting.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|conjugal|alt=Conjugal]], matrimonial.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[uxor]]

+ * [[en|uxorious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}