Are We Us? — Nouns

The same suffixes—ārius, tōrius, and sōrius—that formed a number of adjectives in this post can also be put to use as nouns with a regular range of meanings. This meaning is often restricted to the gender of the noun formed. Again, these denote a kind of belonging.

-ārius (m.) employee in a particular field

• argentārius, -ī silversmith, broker
• coriārius, -ī leather worker
• Corinthiārius, -ī Corinthian bronze worker (for those not in the know, Corinthian bronze had Gucci bag status in antiquity)
• mirābiliārius, -ī miracle worker
• operārius, ī worker, day-laborer

-ārius (f.) thing associated with a particular field

• aerāria, -ae copper mine
• argentāria, -ae bank
• arēnāriae, -ārum sandpits (arēna, sand)
• Asināria, -ae the play The Ass (with fabula, -ae implied)

-ārium (n.) thing (often a place) associated with a field

• aerārium, -ī treasury
• tepidārium, -ī warm bath
• sūdārium, -ī towel
• salārium, -ī salary
• calendārium, -ī notebook (calendae, calends)

-tōria / -sōria (f.) and -tōrium / -sōrium (n.) thing (often a place) associated with a field

• Agitātōria, –ae The Driver by Platus (agitātor, driver, with fabula, -ae implied)
• auditōrium, -ī lecture room
• tentōrium, -ī tent (tendō, stretch)
• tēctōrium, -ī plaster (tectus, covered)
• portōrium, -ī toll (portus, harbor)

The Essential AG: 254.1-5

Advertisement

Are We Us? — Adjectives

The adjectival suffixes -ārius, -tōrius, and -sōrius denote belonging to a group qualified by the implied content of the correspond root. Effectively, these adjectives are formed by the addition to -ius to the adjectival root -āris or the nominal root -or. Let’s build a few examples.

• bellum (war) —> bellātor (warrior) —> bellātōrius, -a, -um (of warriors)
• pecūlium (property) —> pecūliāris, -e (one’s own) —> pecūliārius, -a,- um (of private property)
• meritō (to earn) —> meritus (earned) —> [meritor] (earner) —> meritōrius, -a, -um (profitable, esp. related to prostitution)
• extrā (outside) —> [extrāris, e] (foreign) —> extrārius, -a, -um (of foreigners)

A few things to notice about this pattern: (i) the original base of the adjective can be just about anything—noun, adjective, verb, adverb—but the penultimate word is always a noun or an adjective. That said, (ii) the penultimate noun or adjective is not always extant in Latin; note the [brackets]. Finally, note that (iii) this set of adjectives is often theoretical—rēs bellatōriae (matters of warriors)and rēs extrāriae (matters of foreigners) probably cover half the total appearances of those two adjectives.