custos

custos

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
Latin custōsbor.
English custos

    Borrowed from Latin custōs.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    custos (plural custodes)

    1. (obsolete) A warden.
      • c. 1530, John Rastell, The Pastyme of People: The Cronycles of Dyuers Realmys‎[2], London:
        […] they were commytted to prison & put out of theyr offyces & the Constable of the Towre made custos of the citye.
      • 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons‎[3], London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 148:
        Mr. Tharp, the Custos of the parish, and several other gentlement, accompanied the corps.
    2. (Roman Catholicism) A monastic superior, who, under the general of his order, has the direction of all the religious houses of the same fraternity in a given district, called a custody of the order.
    3. (music, historical) In older forms of musical notation, an indication, at the end of a line of music, of the first note of the next line.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    Anagrams

    Latin

    Etymology

    Of unclear ultimate origin. The mainstream etymology, proposed by Nowicki (1978), derives the word from a compound *kusto-sd- (“who sits near the hidden/near the treasure”), where the first element is cognate to Proto-Germanic *huzdą (“hidden treasure”) (also of uncertain etymology; see more at English hoard and below) and the second element is a reduced form of Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”). However, this etymology is disputed, and De Vaan is skeptical of it, with further discussion in the below box.[1]

    More information

    One proposal derives *kusto- and *huzdą from *kudʰ-to-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewdʰ- (“to cover, wrap, encase”), from *(s)kewH- (“to cover, hide”),[2] whence Ancient Greek κεύθω (keúthō, “to conceal”) and Old English hȳdan (“to hide, conceal, preserve”). But the derivation of Latin /st/ and Proto-Germanic *zd from PIE *dʰ-t is controversial. Some etymologists consider /st/ to be the regular outcome in Latin of PIE *dʰ-t, based on aestās and aestus; according to this view, the /ss/ found in participle forms such as iussus and fossus was introduced by analogy with forms built on stems ending in other dental consonants.[3] But De Vaan argues that it is better to analyze /ss/ as the regular outcome of *dʰ-t, and the /st/ of aestās and aestus as an analogical reformation.[4] Thus, De Vaan considers the /st/ in custōs unexplained and the etymology unknown.

    Oswald Szemerényi (1952/3 [1987]) alternatively derives the /st/ here[5] and the *zd in Proto-Germanic *huzdą from PIE *sdʰ, tracing both back to a Proto-Indo-European *k(e)wsdʰo- (“palace, treasure house, treasure”).[6] This etymology is accepted by Ringe (2006) who mentions Ancient Greek κύσθος (kústhos, “vulva”) as another cognate.[7] However, Lubotsky (2004) finds this unconvincing and considers the regular outcome of *sdʰ in Latin to be a long vowel + /d/.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    custōs m or f (genitive custōdis); third declension

    1. a guard, protector, watchman
      Synonyms: praesidium, appāritor
    2. a guardian, tutor
      • Pius V, Missale Romanum (1962):
        Virginum custōs et pater, sāncte Iōsēph, cuius fidēlī custōdiae, ipsa innocentia, Chrīstus Iēsūs, et virgō virginum, Marīa, commissa fuit; tē per hoc utrumque carissimum pignus Iēsum et Marīam obsecrō et obtestor, ut mē, ab omnī immunditiā praeservātum, mente incontaminātā, pūrō corde et castō corpore Iēsū et Marīae semper faciās castissimē famulārī. Āmēn.
        Oh guardian of virgins and father, Saint Joseph, to whose faithful custody innocence itself, Christ Jesus, and the virgin of virgins, Mary, was entrusted. By this most dear charge, Jesus and Mary, I beg and beseech [thee] that I may be preserved from all uncleanness, and that thou wouldst make it so that, with an undefiled mind, and with a pure heart, and with a chaste body, I might always most chastely serve Jesus and Mary. Amen
    3. a jailer
    4. a keeper, custodian
      Synonyms: dēfēnsor, vindex, praeses, appāritor
      • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 4.109–111:
        Invitent croceis [apes] halantes floribus horti
        Et custos furum atque avium cum falce saligna
        Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi.
        May gardens bright, fragrant with flower, lure them [the bees] and Hellespontian Priap with his willow scythe the robbing bee and the birds keep away.

    Declension

    Third-declension noun.

    singular plural
    nominative custōs custōdēs
    genitive custōdis custōdum
    dative custōdī custōdibus
    accusative custōdem custōdēs
    ablative custōde custōdibus
    vocative custōs custōdēs

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Late Latin: custor (see there for further descendants)
    • → English: custos
    • → Finnish: kustos
    • → German: Kustos
    • → Italian: custode
    • → Old French: custode

    References

    1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “custōs, -ōdis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 159
    2. ^ “custody”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
    3. ^ Stuart-Smith, Jane (2004) Phonetics and Phonology: Sound Change in Italic (Oxford University Press), page 43; citing Leumann 1977: 168, Meiser 1998: 124
    4. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “aestās”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 28
    5. ^ Stuart-Smith, Jane (2004) Phonetics and Phonology: Sound Change in Italic (Oxford University Press), page 27; citing Szemerényi, O. J. (1952/3 [1987]), 'The development of the Indo-European Mediae Aspiratae in Latin and Italic', Archivum Linguisticum, 4: 27-53; 99-116 and 5: 1-21＝Scripta Minora, vol. 2. 628-93.
    6. ^ Lubotsky, Alexander. (2004). "Avestan siiazd-, Sanskrit sedh-, Latin cedere." Per aspera ad asteriscos: Studia Indogermanica in honorem Jens Elmegard Rasmussen sexagenarii Idibus Martiis anno MMIV, 322 - 332 (2004).
    7. ^ Ringe, Donald (2006), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎[1], 1st edition, Oxford: University Press, →ISBN, page 95

    Further reading

    • “custos”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • “custos”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • "custos", 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)
    • “custos”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

    Portuguese

    Noun

    custos

    1. plural of custo

    Romanian

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Latin custos.

    Noun

    custos m (uncountable)

    1. (rare) custodian
      Synonym: custode

    Declension

    singular only indefinite definite
    nominative-accusative custos custosul
    genitive-dative custos custosului
    vocative custosule

    References

    • custos in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN
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