ambactus

Latin

Alternative forms

• ambaxtus

Etymology

From Gaulish ambaxtos (“vassal, high-ranking servant”), from Proto-Celtic *ambaxtos (“servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mbʰi-h₂eǵ- (“drive around”), from *h₂m̥bʰi (“around”) + *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”). See Latin ambigō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /amˈbak.tus/, [ämˈbäkt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /amˈbak.tus/, [ämˈbäkt̪us]

Noun

ambactus m (genitive ambactī); second declension

1. a vassal, dependent
2. a servant, retainer

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ambactus	ambactī
Genitive	ambactī	ambactōrum
Dative	ambactō	ambactīs
Accusative	ambactum	ambactōs
Ablative	ambactō	ambactīs
Vocative	ambacte	ambactī

Derived terms

• ambactia

Descendants

• → Danish: ambassade
• → Dutch: ambassade
• → English: ambassador
• French: ambacte, ambassade
• Italian: ambasciata, ambasciatore
• → Norwegian: ambassade
• Portuguese: embaixada, embaixador
• Romanian: ambasadă, ambasador
• Spanish: embajada, embajador

References

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