symbolus Latin · revision 36700

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=grc σύμβολον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsym.bɔ.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈsim.bo.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''symbolus''' ''m'' (genitive symbolī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The manuscripts of Plautus also have ''sumbolus'', ''symbulus'' and ''simbolus''.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|σύμβολον|tr=súmbolon|t=token]] or its masculine [[m|grc|σύμβολος|tr=súmbolos]],^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)^(Georges 1913) from [[m|grc|συμβάλλω|tr=sumbállō|t=to throw together]], a compound of [[m|grc|σύν|tr=sún|t=together]] and [[m|grc|βάλλω|tr=bállō|t=to throw]].^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary takes the masculine as a change of gender from the neuter [[m|la|symbolum]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879) for a token that proved who sent a messenger: in the ''Pseudolus'' a soldier has left a token here, his likeness pressed in wax from his ring (''miles hic reliquit symbolum, expressam in cera ex anulo suam imaginem'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Plautus it is one of two matching objects held by the parties to an agreement, usually the impression of a signet, which the other party's agent had to show to prove who he was.^(OLD 2012) Cato, in a speech, says he never issued travel permits so that his friends might make money through such warrants (''per symbolos'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder reports that Greeks and Romans later called the signet ring itself ''symbolus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In Christian Latin, with the neuter ''symbolum'', it named the creed, the profession of faith.^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)^(Georges 1913) In medieval Latin Köbler also records the sense of an obligation to provide board.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a token proving a messenger's identity.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of an official warrant.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a signet ring.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|token]], one of two matching objects (usually the impression of a [[m|en|signet]]) that proved the identity of a party's agent.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A signet ring.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # An official [[m|en|warrant]], permit.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' The [[m|en|creed]].^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Gaffiot notes that the masculine ''symbolus'' and the neuter [[symbolum]] often cannot be told apart.^(Gaffiot 2016) The Vulgate uses the plural in Proverbs in the sense of [[symbola]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}