satelles

Latin[edit]

Three possibilities are:

From Old Latin *satro- (“enough, full”) + *leyt- (“to let go”), akin to English follow, which might be composed of similar roots.
From Etruscan 𐌆𐌀𐌕𐌋𐌀𐌈 (zatlaθ) "follower, guard", maybe connected with camunian zaθalas and zaθaú "stability" ^[1].
From Old Latin *satellus, diminutive of *satḗr (“the possessor”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to receive, obtain”) (whence also Ancient Greek κτάομαι (ktáomai) and Old Persian 𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎱𐎠𐎺𐎠 (x-š-ç-p-a-v-a /xšaçapāvā/)).^[2].

satelles m or f (genitive satellitis); third declension

attendant, guard, bodyguard
accomplice, follower
tibi apparuit inter Seianianos satellites mortem unam patere servitutis fugam.
It was clear to you that, surrounded as he was by the followers of Sejanus, death was the only way to escape from slavery.

satelles in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879
satelles in Charlton T. Lewis, An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1891
satelles in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
satelles in Gaffiot, Félix, Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette, 1934

^ Woudhuizen, Etruscan as a Colonial Luwian Language
^ H. Blanchet, Trois modes de dénomination du divin dans les panthéons indo-européens