contubernium

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

Latin taberna

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -ium

Latin contuberniumbor.

English contubernium

Borrowed from Latin contubernium.

Noun

contubernium (uncountable)

1. (Ancient Rome) A type of quasi-marriage between slaves.
2. (Ancient Rome) A type of small squadron.

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

Latin taberna

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -ium

Latin contubernium

From con- (“with, shared”) + taberna (“hut; tent”) + -ium.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kɔn.tʊˈbɛr.ni.ũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [kon.tuˈbɛr.ni.um]

Noun

contubernium n (genitive contuberniī or contubernī); second declension

1. (historical military) a squad of soldiers sharing a single tent, usually 6–8 men
2. attendance (in war)
3. attendance, accompanying (of teachers, friends, etc.)
4. marriage of slaves
5. a dwelling together (referring to animals)
6. a dwelling of different persons
7. (in general) household, company

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	contubernium	contubernia
genitive	contuberniī contubernī1	contuberniōrum
dative	contuberniō	contuberniīs
accusative	contubernium	contubernia
ablative	contuberniō	contuberniīs
vocative	contubernium	contubernia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Meronyms

• (unit of soldiers): centuria (10 contubernia); cohors (60 contubernia); legio (notionally 600 contubernia)

Related terms

• contubernālis

Descendants

• → Portuguese: contubérnio

References

• “contubernium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “contubernium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "contubernium", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “contubernium”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “contubernium”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “contubernium”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin