equester Latin · revision 8061
16 Oct 2026, 15:21 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cato|origins=la equus}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ɛˈkʷɛs.tɛr]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eˈkʷɛs.ter]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''equester''' (feminine equestris, neuter equestre); third-declension three-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)
+ Livy also has the masculine ''equestris''.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[eques]] “horseman”, stem ⟨equit-⟩, with the suffix ⟨-ter⟩, a form of [[-tris]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Cato, of the cavalry.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant of cavalry or a cavalryman, as in Cato, and in Pliny the Elder mounted, as an equestrian statue.^(OLD 2012) In Cicero ''ōrdō equester'' was the class of knights, between the Senate and the people, which grew out of the state cavalry.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant equestrian.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for knightly, ''ōrdō equester'' for knighthood, and the noun ''equester'' for a squire.^(Niermeyer 1976) British Medieval Latin used it of riders, the cavalry, harness and knights.^(DMLBS) It was borrowed into French ''équestre'' and Spanish ''ecuestre'', and [[en|equestrian]] was formed from it in the 1650s.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of cavalry.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''ōrdō equester''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of statues.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1650s – English ''equestrian'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Of [[m|en|cavalry]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # Mounted; [[m|en|equestrian]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''ōrdō equester'', the class of knights.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Knightly; as a noun, a [[m|en|squire]].^(Niermeyer 1976)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[equa]]
+ * [[equārius]]
+ * [[eques]]
+ * [[equiferus]]
+ * [[equīle]]
+ * [[equimulga]]
+ * [[equīnus]]
+ * [[equiō]]
+ * [[equīria]]
+ * [[equīso]]
+ * [[equus]]
+ * [[pedester]]
+ * [[en|equestrian]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}