pontifex

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English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pontifex.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈpɒn.təˌfɛks/, /ˈpɒn.tɪˌfɛks/
  • Hyphenation: pon‧ti‧fex

Noun

pontifex (plural pontifices)

  1. (historical) A pontiff, or high priest, in Ancient Rome.

Latin

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

Often interpreted as a compound originally meaning “bridge-maker”, from pōns (bridge) +‎ -fex (suffix representing a maker or producer), either metaphorically “one who negotiates between gods and men” or literally if at some point the social class which supplied the priests was more or less identical with engineers that were responsible for building bridges.

Pronunciation

Noun

pontifex m (genitive pontificis); third declension

  1. a high priest, State minister in ancient Rome
  2. a pontiff or bishop of the early Christian church, now specifically the Pope

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative pontifex pontificēs
Genitive pontificis pontificum
Dative pontificī pontificibus
Accusative pontificem pontificēs
Ablative pontifice pontificibus
Vocative pontifex pontificēs

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  • pontifex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • pontifex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • pontifex 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)
  • pontifex in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • pontifex”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • pontifex in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
  • pontifex”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
  • De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 480

Slovak

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin pontifex.

Pronunciation

Noun

pontifex m (genitive singular pontifika, nominative plural pontifikovia, genitive plural pontifikov, declension pattern of chlap)

  1. a high priest in ancient Rome
  2. a pontiff or bishop of the early Christian church, now specifically the Pope

Declension

Further reading

  • pontifex”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024