triumvir Latin · revision 36365

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la trēs, la vir}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [triˈʊn.wɪr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [triˈum.vir]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''triumvir''' ''m'' (genitive triumvirī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ In the plural it is also written as two words, ⟨trēs virī⟩, and inscriptions often write it ⟨iiivir⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|trēs|vir|t1=three|t2=man]].^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) The OLD explains the first part ⟨trium-⟩ from the genitive plural, used partitively for one of the three men,^(OLD 2012) and Etymonline derives the word from the Old Latin phrase ⟨trium virum⟩.^(Etymonline) The numeral goes back to [[ine-pro|*treies|t=three]], and the noun to [[itc-pro|*wiro-]] and [[ine-pro|*uiH-ró-|t=man, warrior]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus already has the board under the name ''tresviri'', the officials who could shut a man in prison,^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) and a speech of Cato uses the word of a commissioner sent to found a colony.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the title of members of several boards of three.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) The ''triumviri capitales'' had charge of prisons and executions, and as ''triumviri nocturni'' kept the peace at night;^(OLD 2012) Valerius Maximus tells of one accused because he had made his night rounds carelessly.^(OLD 2012) Others ran the mint, distributed land when a colony was founded, as in Cicero, Sallust and Livy, or, as the ''triumviri mensarii'' appointed in 216 BC, supervised public finance; the senate also set up boards of three for particular tasks.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In 43 BC Antony, Octavian and Lepidus were appointed ''triumviri rei publicae constituendae'', and Augustus records in his ''Res Gestae'' that the people made him one of them.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Under the Empire it was also the title of local magistrates in the provinces, of officials of the Augustales, and even of an officer in a guild of slaves.^(OLD 2012) British medieval writers used it as a title of dignity or office,^(DMLBS) and English took it over in the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus names the ''tresviri'' who keep the prison.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a commissioner for a colony.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 216 BC – The ''triumviri mensarii'' are appointed for public finance, as Livy reports.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 43 BC – Antony, Octavian and Lepidus become the triumvirs for restoring the state.^(OLD 2012)

+ * mid-15th century – English borrows it as [[m|en|triumvir]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A member of a [[m|en|board]] of three officials, especially one of the ''triumviri capitales'', who had charge of prisons and executions.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A member of a board of three for the mint, for founding a colony and dividing its land, for public finance, or for some other task.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Conte 2010)

+ # One of the three men (Antony, Octavian and Lepidus) appointed in 43 BC to restore the state; a [[m|en|triumvir]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # The title of various local magistrates in the provinces and of officials of the ''Augustales''.^(OLD 2012)

+ # An officer of a [[m|en|guild]] of slaves.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A title of dignity or office.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[decemvir]]

+ * [[en|triumvir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}