Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
munus. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
munus, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
munus in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
munus you have here. The definition of the word
munus will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
munus, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Latin
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *moinos.
Like mūnia (“duties”), it is derived from Proto-Indo-European *moy-nós, from *mey- (“change, swap”). As is the case with such derivatives as "municipality", and "immunity", the concept of trading goods and services in a way that conforms to a society's laws is quite pertinent to this term. From the addition of the "com-" prefix came commūnis (“common, public”), which is cognate to Proto-Germanic *gamainiz (“shared, communal, public”).
The semantic shift to 'gift' is explained by Sextus Pompeius Festus thus:
1839 [8th century CE], Paulus Diaconus, edited by Karl Otfried Müller, Excerpta ex libris Pompeii Festi De significatione verborum, page 140, line 12:Mūnus sīgnificat officium, cum dīcitur quis mūnere fungī. Item dōnum quod officiī causā datur.- Mūnus means office, when someone is said to perform his office. Also 'gift', since it's given because of the service.
Pronunciation
Noun
mūnus n (genitive mūneris); third declension
- a service, office, employment
- Synonyms: ministerium, negōtium, officium, cūra, cūrātiō
c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE,
Catullus,
Carmina 61.41–45:
- ut lubentius, audiēns
sē citārier ad suum
mūnus, hūc aditum ferat
dux bonae Veneris, bonī
coniugātor amōris.- so that with more pleasure, hearing
himself being hurried to his
office, towards here might come
the herald of the good Venus, of the good
love uniter.
- a burden, duty, obligation
- a service, favor
- a spectacle, public show
- (in the plural) a public building made at the expense of an individual
2 CE,
Ovid,
The Art of Love 1.67–70:
- Tū modo Pompeiā lentus spatiāre sub umbrā,
cum sōl Herculeī terga leōnis adit:
aut ubi mūneribus nātī sua mūnera māter
addidit, externō marmore dīves opus.- Just slowly take a walk under the shadow,
when the sun goes towards the back of the Herculean lion;
or where the mother to her son's buildings her own buildings
has added, a work rich by its exterior marble.
- c. 81 CE, Martial, Dē Spectāculīs 2.7–8:
- Hīc ubi mīrāmur vēlōcia mūnera thermās,
abstulerat miserīs tēcta superbus ager.
- Here where we wonder at the speedy public building of a bath,
a vain tract of land had taken the houses away from the poor.
- a gift
- Synonyms: praemium, datum, donum
8 CE,
Ovid,
Fasti 3.185:
- in stipulā placidī capiēbat mūnera somnī
- On stubble he was enjoying the gifts of peaceful sleep
Declension
Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “munus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “munus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- munus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- munus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to give a gladiatorial show: munus gladiatorium edere, dare (or simply munus edere, dare)
- to live a perfect life: virtutis perfectae perfecto munere fungi (Tusc. 1. 45. 109)
- banished from public life: rei publicae muneribus orbatus
- to perform official duties: munus administrare, gerere
- to perform official duties: munere fungi, muneri praeesse
- to appoint some one to an office: muneri aliquem praeficere, praeponere
- to fulfil the duties of one's position: munus explere, sustinere
- to remove a person from his office: abrogare alicui munus (Verr. 2. 57)
- a man who has held many offices: honoribus ac reipublicae muneribus perfunctus (De Or. 1. 45)
- “munus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “munus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
Sumerian
Romanization
munus
- Romanization of 𒊩 (munus)