princeps

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See also: prínceps

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prī̆nceps (first, foremost). Doublet of prince and principe.

Noun

princeps (plural principes)

  1. (Ancient Rome) Title of the Roman emperor during the principate.
    • 1984, Karl Christ, The Romans: An Introduction to Their History and Civilisation, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 126:
      Its special characteristics were that the princeps was not governed by any law of procedure or confined to a particular place of judgment and, moreover, had complete freedom in the composition of his consilium.
  2. One who, or that which, is foremost, original, etc.
  3. (printing) The editio princeps, or first edition of a book.

Translations

Anagrams

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology

From Latin princeps. Doublet of prins.

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Noun

princeps m (uncountable)

  1. princeps; Roman emperor

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *priisemokaps by syncope. By surface analysis, prīmus (first) +‎ -ceps (catcher). Compare Old English fruma (chief, prince, ruler).

Pronunciation

  • (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈpriːn.keps/, or IPA(key): /ˈprin.keps/,
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈprin.t͡ʃeps/,
  • The length of the first vowel might have varied, being subject to one or more rounds of Osthoff's Law which shortened vowels before an /n/ in the same syllable. Ancient Greek πρῖγκιψ (prînkips) shows there was a pronunciation prīnceps with long /iː/, which must have been maintained by analogy with prīmus. On the other hand, a pronunciation prĭnceps with short /i/ in the first syllable is implied by statements made by the late Latin grammarians Servius and Pompeius[1][2][3] (Servius wrote in the late fourth century or early fifth century; Pompeius wrote in the fifth century and used Servius as a resource). A short vowel in the first syllable is also implied by archaic Italian prence[4][5] and prencipe (alternative forms of principe) assuming that these are inherited forms: Grandgent 1927 instead explains prence as a borrowing from French, where nasalized vowels came to be phonetically lowered, and suggests prencipe is a hybrid between this borrowed form and principe.[6]

Adjective

prī̆nceps (genitive prī̆ncipis); third-declension one-termination adjective

  1. first, foremost
    • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.12:
      Ita sive casu sive consilio deorum immortalium quae pars civitatis Helvetiae insignem calamitatem populo Romano intulerat, ea princeps poenam persolvit.
      Thus, whether by chance or by the design of the immortal gods, that part of the Helvetian state which had brought a signal calamity upon the Roman people, was the first to pay the penalty.
  2. chief, distinguished

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

singular plural
masc./fem. neuter masc./fem. neuter
nominative prī̆nceps prī̆ncipēs prī̆ncipia
genitive prī̆ncipis prī̆ncipium
dative prī̆ncipī prī̆ncipibus
accusative prī̆ncipem prī̆nceps prī̆ncipēs prī̆ncipia
ablative prī̆ncipē prī̆ncipibus
vocative prī̆nceps prī̆ncipēs prī̆ncipia

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • prī̆nceps cīvitātis (first citizen) (a title of the Roman Emperors, beginning with Caesar Augustus)
  • prī̆nceps senātūs (first among senators) (a title of the leader of the Roman Senate, ending with the Roman Empire)

Noun

prī̆nceps m or f (genitive prī̆ncipis); third declension

  1. a leader, first man or woman, head
    • The official Style of the British sovereign :
      Carolus III, Deī Grātiā Britanniārum Rēgnōrumque Suōrum Cēterōrum Rēx, Cōnsortiōnis Populōrum Prīnceps, Fideī Dēfēnsor
      Charles III, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain <and Northern Ireland> and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith
  2. a principal person
  3. an author, originator, founder
  4. a chief, director
  5. a prince, sovereign
  6. (military, in the plural) company or division of the second line of soldiers

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  1. ^ W. Sidney Allen (1978) Vox Latina, 2nd edition, page 73
  2. ^ Servius ((Can we date this quote?)) Heinrich Keil, editor, Grammatici Latini / Vol. 4 Probi Donati Servii..., volume 4, published 1864, page 426
  3. ^ Pompeius ((Can we date this quote?)) Heinrich Keil, editor, Grammatici Latini / Vol. 5 Artium Scriptores Minores..., volume 5, published 1857, page 130
  4. ^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, page 78
  5. ^ Sayeed, Ollie (01 Jan 2017) "Osthoff’s Law in Latin", in Indo-European Linguistics, Volume 5, Issue 1, page 158
  6. ^ Grandgent, Charles H. (1927) From Latin to Italian: An Historical Outline of the Phonology and Morphology of the Italian Language, Harvard University Press, page 28

Further reading

  • princeps”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • princeps”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • princeps 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)
  • princeps in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to be considered the foremost orator: primum or principem inter oratores locum obtinere
    • to be considered the foremost orator: oratorum principem esse
    • to be the chief man in the state: principem civitatis esse
    • to hold the first position in the state: principem in re publica locum obtinere
    • statesmen: principes rem publicam administrantes or simply principes
    • to occupy the first, second position in the state: principem (primum), secundum locum dignitatis obtinere
    • the aristocracy (as a leading class in government): principes or primores
  • princeps”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • princeps in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
  • princeps”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin princeps.

Adjective

princeps m or f or n (indeclinable)

  1. princeps

Declension

invariable singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative-
accusative
indefinite princeps princeps princeps princeps
definite
genitive-
dative
indefinite princeps princeps princeps princeps
definite

Noun

princeps m (uncountable)

  1. princeps

Declension

singular only indefinite definite
nominative-accusative princeps princepsul
genitive-dative princeps princepsului
vocative princepsule