meretrix Latin · revision 8456

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la mereō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmɛ.rɛ.triːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɛː.re.triks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''meretrīx''' ''f'' (genitive meretrīcis, masculine meretor); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[mereō]] “to earn” with the feminine agent suffix [[-trīx]], literally “a woman who earns”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) De Vaan lists it among the early derivatives of ⟨mereō⟩, whose origin he considers problematic.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan's first source is Plautus, whom Köbler dates c. 250–184 BC.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a courtesan, a kept woman, a prostitute, and Plautus calls them all “enticements to money”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein contrasts it with ''paelex'', a married man's mistress seen as the wife's rival, and ''concubīna'', any bed-fellow.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a harlot.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin used it for a courtesan or kept woman, and it appears in Alcuin.^(DMLBS) It was borrowed into Italian ''meretrice'' and Spanish ''meretriz''.^(Wiktionary) Its adjective ''meretrīcius'' gave [[en|meretricious]] in the 1620s, “pertaining to harlots”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1620s – English ''meretricious'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|courtesan]], kept woman, [[m|en|prostitute]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[meretrīcius]]

+ * [[meretricor]]

+ * [[meretrīcula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mereō]]

+ * [[meritum]]

+ * [[en|meretricious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}