sequester Latin · revision 33948

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *se-ḱuo-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sɛˈkʷɛs.tɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [seˈkʷɛs.ter]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sequester''' ''m'' (genitive sequestris or sequestrī, feminine sequestra); variously declined, third declension, second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The OLD treats it as an adjective, ''sequester, -tra, -trum'', also ''sequester, -tris, -tre''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a derivative of [[m|la|secus|t=otherwise, beside]] with the contrastive suffix ⟨-ter⟩, from an older ⟨*sequos⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary compares the same suffix in [[m|la|magister]] and [[m|la|minister]].^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that adverb, which he traces to [[itc-pro|*sekwos|t=separate]] and, following Klingenschmitt, to [[ine-pro|*se-ḱuo-|t=by oneself, separate]], comparing [[sga|sech|t=past; without]]; the older explanation took the adverb as an old participle "following", from the root of [[m|la|sequor]].^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler connects it with that verb too.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan finds it first in Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008) In the ''Rudens'' someone refuses to let the other take a thing away unless he names a depositary or an arbiter, and in the ''Mercator'' it is said that a woman was given to someone in trust.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is first a term of law: a third party to whom disputed property was entrusted until the dispute was settled, a depositary, as in Plautus, Cato, Petronius and the jurists.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The neuter is used in ''sequestrō pōnere'' or ''dare'', to place in trust, which Gellius explains.^(OLD 2012) In elections it was the agent with whom a promised bribe was deposited: Cicero names such agents beside the go-betweens who corrupt juries, and accuses Plancius of having been a seller and agent of bribes for his tribe.^(OLD 2012) From there it came to mean an intermediary in general: Virgil has Trojans and Latins wandering the hills together under a peace that kept them apart, and Seneca calls Menenius Agrippa a mediator between patricians and plebs.^(OLD 2012) Apuleius uses it of an old woman who arranged adulteries.^(OLD 2012) The older form ''sequester'', ''-trī'' is ante- and post-classical and poetic.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Stelten gives "trustee" for Church Latin.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a depositary and of something given in trust.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato in a speech.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of agents in bribery.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a peace that keeps enemies apart.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of Menenius Agrippa as mediator.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(law)'' A [[m|en|depositary]], a third party holding disputed property until a decision.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(in bribery)'' An agent with whom a promised bribe is deposited.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An intermediary, [[m|en|mediator]], go-between.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(neuter)'' ''sequestrō pōnere'', ''sequestrō dare'': to place (disputed property) in trust.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Acting as intermediary, mediating (as Virgil's ''pāx sequestra'').^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sequestrārius]]

+ * [[sequestrō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sequestra]]

+ * [[sequestrum]]

+ * [[secus]]

+ * [[en|sequester]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}