A Note on the Etymology of Latin Caesar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/CC.28.2025.28.07Keywords:
Latin etymology, Latin language, historical lexicologyAbstract
This article examines the etymology of the Latin cognomen Caesar, famously associated with Gaius Julius Caesar and later adopted as a title by Roman emperors. It reviews ancient folk etymologies – linking the cognomen Caesar to cutting (caedere), hair (caesaries), or eye color (caesius) – and contrasts them with modern linguistic perspectives, which emphasize the name’s uncertain but likely Italic origin. Additionally, it is pointed out that the term caesaries ‘hair’ might be the derivative of the original noun and its chain of derivation is reviewed. Though its precise origin remains unclear, the name Caesar underwent a significant semantic evolution, ultimately becoming a dynastic title and giving rise to imperial terms such as German Kaiser and Russian Tsar.
References
Ernout A., 1909, Les éléments dialectaux du vocabulaire Latin, Paris.
Ernout A., Meillet A., 2001, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine, Paris.
Maltby R., 1991, A Lexicon of Ancient Latin Etymologies, Wiltshire.
Mayrhofer M., 1956, Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen, Heidelberg.
Nussbaum A.J., 1976, ‘Umbrian pisher’, Glotta 54/3–4, pp. 241–253.
OLD = Oxford Latin Dictionary, P. Glare (ed.), Oxford 1968.
Pinault G.-J., 1998, ‘Analyse de latin caesaries’, [in:] Moussyllanea: Mélanges de linguistique et de littérature anciennes offerts à Claude Moussy, B. Bureau, C. Nicolas (eds), Louvain–Paris, pp. 15–30.
Piwowarczyk D.R., 2013, ‘The Story of Caesar Revisited’, Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 18/3, pp. 105–110, https://doi.org/10.4467/20843836SE.13.007.0944.
Piwowarczyk D.R., 2016, ‘The Origin of the Latin -iēs/-ia Inflection’, Historische Sprachforschung 129, pp. 108–123.
Piwowarczyk D.R., 2019, The Latin -iēs/-ia Inflection – Synchronic Evidence and Diachronic Origin, Kraków.
Safarewicz J., 1953, Zarys gramatyki historycznej języka łacińskiego, Warszawa.
Safarewicz J., 1986, Zarys historii języka łacińskiego, Wrocław.
Sommer F., Pfister R., 1977, Handbuch der lateinischen Laut- und Formenlehre, Heidelberg.
Untermann J., 2000, Wörterbuch des Oskisch-Umbrischen, Heidelberg.
de Vaan M., 2008, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages, Leiden.
Walde A., Hofmann J.B., 1938, Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg.
Weiss M., 2020, Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, Ann Arbor–New York.
Zamudio R.J., 1986, Estudio del dialecto peligno y su entorno lingüístico, Salamanca.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
