pater Latin · revision 658

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pater''' ''m'' (genitive patris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*pater-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ph₂tḗr|t=father]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) It is cognate with [[osc|patir]] and [[xve|pater]],^(de Vaan 2008) and further with [[sa|पितर्|tr=pitár-]], [[grc|πατήρ|tr=patḗr]], [[xcl|հայր|tr=hayr]], [[sga|athir]], [[got|𐍆𐌰𐌳𐌰𐍂|tr=fadar]] and [[goh|fater]], all meaning "father".^(de Vaan 2008)^(Pokorny 1959) The same word is the second part of [[Iuppiter]] and Old Latin [[Diespiter|alt=Diēspiter]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The deeper origin is disputed: it may be built on [[ine-pro|*peh₂-|t=to protect]], or be a derivative in *-ter- of a nursery word *pa.^(de Vaan 2008) Walde already preferred the second view, deriving it from the baby word behind [[papa|alt=pāpa]].^(Walde 1906) Ancient grammarians connected it with [[patefacio|alt=patefacere]] "to disclose" (Varro) and with [[patro|alt=patrāre]] "to accomplish" (Isidore of Seville).^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A law of the Twelve Tables (c. 450 BC) rules that "if a father sells his son three times, the son shall be free from the father" (''si pater filium ter venum duuit, filius a patre liber esto'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan lists Livius Andronicus as the first literary author to use it.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the father of a family, it could mark the elder of two men of the same name, the sire of an animal, and in the plural the forefathers.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The ''pater familiās'' was the head of a household and its property, and in ordinary speech simply a private citizen.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Applied to anyone owed a father's respect, it became a title: Virgil's ''pater Aenēās'', the epithet of gods (above all Jupiter, Ennius' "father of gods and king of men"), and ''pater patriae'', "father of the fatherland", given to Marius, Cicero and the emperors.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In the plural ''patrēs'' were the patricians and the senators, addressed as ''patrēs conscrīptī''.^(OLD 2012) It also named the head of a college or of a Mithraic community, and the founder of a school or a kind of writing: Cicero calls Herodotus the father of history.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In the Vulgate the ''patrēs'' are the forefathers of Israel, and a single patriarch such as Abraham is ''pater noster''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Medieval Latin applied it to abbots and venerable monks, the Fathers of the Church, patron saints, godfathers and confessors (''pater spīrituālis''), and in the plural to the cardinals.^(Niermeyer 1976) From the opening of the Lord's Prayer, ''pater noster'' also named the prayer and the beads on which it was counted.^(Köbler 2010)^(Du Cange 1883) Through Spanish, Italian or Portuguese ''padre'' it reached English as [[en|padre]] in the 1580s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables limit a father's right to sell his son.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius calls Jupiter "father of gods and king of men".^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato advises the ''pater familiās'' on inspecting his farm.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero calls Herodotus ''pater historiae'' and Marius a true ''pater patriae''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil names his hero ''pater Aenēās''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1333–1336 – An account in the Dauphiné lists strings of ''paternostri'', prayer beads of amber, coral and glass.^(Du Cange 1883)

+ * 1580s – English borrows the Romance form as [[en|padre]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|father]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(with a name)'' The elder of two of the same name.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(plural)'' Parents.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # The [[m|en|sire]] of an animal.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(plural)'' [[m|en|forefather|alt=Forefathers]], [[m|en|ancestor|alt=ancestors]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''pater familiās'': the head of a [[m|en|household]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # The head or president of a group, as ''pater cēnae'', the host of a dinner.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A title of respect or honour, as ''pater patriae'', father of the fatherland.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A title of gods, especially Jupiter.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(plural)'' The [[m|en|patrician|alt=patricians]]; the [[m|en|senator|alt=senators]] (''patrēs conscrīptī'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The founder of a school or art: ''pater historiae'', ''pater ēloquentiae''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An [[m|en|abbot]]; a venerable monk; a Father of the Church.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A patron saint, a [[m|en|godfather]], or (''pater spīrituālis'') a [[m|en|confessor]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, plural)'' The [[m|en|cardinal|alt=cardinals]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[paternus]]

+ * [[patraster]]

+ * [[patrātus]]

+ * [[patricīda]]

+ * [[patricīdium]]

+ * [[patricius]]

+ * [[patricus]]

+ * [[patrimōnium]]

+ * [[patrī̆mus]]

+ * [[patrissō]]

+ * [[patrītus]]

+ * [[patrius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[impetrō]]

+ * [[paternālis]]

+ * [[paternitās]]

+ * [[patria]]

+ * [[patricē]]

+ * [[patriē]]

+ * [[patrimōniālis]]

+ * [[patrimōniolum]]

+ * [[patrōcinālis]]

+ * [[patrōcinātus]]

+ * [[en|padre]]

+ * [[en|father]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The early medieval glossator Papias distinguished ''genitor'', a word of nature, from ''pater'', a word of dignity.^(Du Cange 1883) An old genitive ''patrus'' is found in inscriptions.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}