ostiarius

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ōstiārius.

Noun

ostiarius (plural ostiarii)

1. (historical) ostiary; doorman; porter
2. (Winchester College) A student office held by a prefect with the duties of keeping order, collecting the vulguses, and ensuring the other students attend class.

Latin

Etymology

From ōstium (“door”) +‎ -ārius.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /oːs.tiˈaː.ri.us/, [oːs̠t̪iˈäːriʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /os.tiˈa.ri.us/, [ost̪iˈäːrius]

Adjective

ōstiārius (feminine ōstiāria, neuter ōstiārium); first/second-declension adjective

1. of or pertaining to a door

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ōstiārius	ōstiāria	ōstiārium		ōstiāriī	ōstiāriae	ōstiāria
genitive	ōstiāriī	ōstiāriae	ōstiāriī		ōstiāriōrum	ōstiāriārum	ōstiāriōrum
dative	ōstiāriō	ōstiāriae	ōstiāriō		ōstiāriīs
accusative	ōstiārium	ōstiāriam	ōstiārium		ōstiāriōs	ōstiāriās	ōstiāria
ablative	ōstiāriō	ōstiāriā	ōstiāriō		ōstiāriīs
vocative	ōstiārie	ōstiāria	ōstiārium		ōstiāriī	ōstiāriae	ōstiāria

Noun

ōstiārius m (genitive ōstiāriī or ōstiārī); second declension

1. porter, doorman

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	ostiārius	ostiāriī
genitive	ostiāriī ostiārī1	ostiāriōrum
dative	ostiāriō	ostiāriīs
accusative	ostiārium	ostiāriōs
ablative	ostiāriō	ostiāriīs
vocative	ostiārie	ostiāriī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Related terms

• ōstiātim
• ōstiolum

Descendants

• Aragonese: ostiero
• → Byzantine Greek: ὀστιάριος (ostiários)
• Catalan: uixer, → ostiari (learned)
• → English: ostiary
• → French: ostiaire
• Galician: ucheira
• Italian: ostiario, usciere
• Old French: ussier
  • French: huissier
    • → English: huissier
    • → Spanish: ujier
  • Anglo-Norman: usser
    • → English: usher
• → Old Irish: aistire
  • Irish: aistire
• → Portuguese: ostiário
• Portuguese: ucheiro
• Romanian: ușar, ușier
• → Spanish: ostiario

References

• “ostiarius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "ostiarius", 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)
• ostiarius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “ostiarius”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ostiarius”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin