comitatus

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin comitatus, from comes (companion). Doublet of county, from Anglo-Norman/Old French.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɒmɪˈteɪtəs/
    Rhymes: -eɪtəs

Noun

comitatus (plural comitatuses or comitatus)

  1. (historical) A group of warriors or nobles accompanying a king or other leader.
  2. (historical) A county, shire.

Latin

Etymology

Perfect participle of comitor, from comes.

Pronunciation

Participle

comitātus (feminine comitāta, neuter comitātum); first/second-declension participle

  1. accompanied, guarded, served, attended; having been accompanied, etc.
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.579–580:
      “‘[...] coniugiumque, domumque, patrēs, nātōsque vidēbit,
      Īliadum turbā et Phrygiīs comitāta ministrīs?’”
      “‘And [Helen] will [again] see her husband, home, parents, and children, attended by her train: Trojan [women] and Phrygian slaves?’”
      (An expression of surprise or indignation posed as a question.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

singular plural
masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
nominative comitātus comitāta comitātum comitātī comitātae comitāta
genitive comitātī comitātae comitātī comitātōrum comitātārum comitātōrum
dative comitātō comitātae comitātō comitātīs
accusative comitātum comitātam comitātum comitātōs comitātās comitāta
ablative comitātō comitātā comitātō comitātīs
vocative comitāte comitāta comitātum comitātī comitātae comitāta

Derived terms

References

Noun

comitātus m (genitive comitātūs); fourth declension

  1. company or troop of soldiers
  2. an escort or attending multitude, especially an imperial escort or retinue
  3. combination, association
  4. county

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative comitātus comitātūs
genitive comitātūs comitātuum
dative comitātuī comitātibus
accusative comitātum comitātūs
ablative comitātū comitātibus
vocative comitātus comitātūs

Derived terms

  • comitātensis
  • comitālis (Medieval Latin)

Descendants

  • Asturian: condáu
  • Catalan: comtat
  • English: comitatus
  • French: comté
  • Irish: contae
  • Italian: contado
  • Occitan: comtat
  • Old French: conté
  • Portuguese: condado
  • Romanian: comitat
  • Sicilian: cuntatu
  • Spanish: condado

References

  • cŏmĭtātus²”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • comitatus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • "comitatus", 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)
  • cŏmĭtātŭs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 348/2.
  • comitatus in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
  • Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “comitatus”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, pages 207–209