cliens Latin · revision 5052

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 450 BC (Twelve Tables)|origins=ine-pro *ḱlei-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkli.ẽːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkliː.ens]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cliēns''' ''m'' or f (genitive clientis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*klient-|t=who supports, who depends]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ḱli-ent-|t=who leans]], originally the active participle of the root aorist [[ine-pro|*ḱlei-|t=to lean]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) Cognate with [[lt|šlíeti|t=to lean]] and [[lv|sliet|t=to support, erect]].^(de Vaan 2008) Older dictionaries derived it from [[clueō]] “to hear, be called”, as one who listens to a patron, and Servius from [[colō|alt=colēns]] “honouring”; the spelling ⟨cluens⟩ occurs in Plautus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Twelve Tables already have it, in the rule that a patron who has defrauded his client is to be accursed (''patronus si clienti fraudem fecerit, sacer esto'').^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates the Twelve Tables to about 450 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At Rome a ''cliens'' was a person who attached himself to a more powerful [[patrōnus]] for protection.^(OLD 2012) The word also named the citizens of an Italian or foreign city whose interests a Roman patron looked after, the vassals or dependants of a foreign chief, a votary of a god and a satellite town.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In medieval Latin it meant a vassal, a ministerial, an esquire and a man-at-arms,^(Niermeyer 1976) and British writers used it of a servant, retainer or pupil.^(DMLBS) [[en|client]] meant at first “one who lives under the patronage of another”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables curse a patron who defrauds his client.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it, also in the spelling ''cluens''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the dependants of the Gaulish chief Orgetorix.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It is used of a vassal and a man-at-arms.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ * late 14th century – English ''client'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|client]], a person under the protection of a more powerful [[patrōnus]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(usually plural)'' The citizens of a city whose interests a Roman patron looked after.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A dependant, [[m|en|vassal]] of a foreign chief or people.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A votary of a god; a satellite town.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A vassal; an [[m|en|esquire]]; a man-at-arms.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[clienta]]

+ * [[clientēla]]

+ * [[clientulus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[clītella]]

+ * [[clīvus]]

+ * [[en|client]]

+ * [[en|clientele]]

+ * [[en|incline]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}