parabolanus

English

Etymology

From Latin parabolanus.

Noun

parabolanus (plural parabolani)

1. (historical, Christianity) In the early Eastern Church, a lay assistant to the clergy for tending the sick.
   • 1880, Sir William Smith, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, volume 3, page 1551:

     In the quarrel between Cyril and Orestes, A.D. 416, the parabolani, zealously espousing the cause of their bishop, threw the city of Alexandria into such confusion that the inhabitants despatched an envoy to Theodosius II., begging him to issue a prohibition for the bishop to leave Alexandria, as his was the only authority by which their violence could be checked.

Latin

Etymology

parabolus (“a daredevil or reckless fellow”) +‎ -ānus (“-ian”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /pa.ra.boˈlaː.nus/, [päräbɔˈɫ̪äːnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pa.ra.boˈla.nus/, [päräboˈläːnus]

Noun

parabolānus m (genitive parabolānī); second declension

1. a (male) sick-nurse, especially in infectious diseases

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	parabolānus	parabolānī
genitive	parabolānī	parabolānōrum
dative	parabolānō	parabolānīs
accusative	parabolānum	parabolānōs
ablative	parabolānō	parabolānīs
vocative	parabolāne	parabolānī

Descendants

• Ancient Greek: πᾰρᾰβολᾶνοι (parabolânoi)

References

• “părăbŏlānus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• parabolanus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• parabolanus in Ramminger, Johann (2024 December 29 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Further reading

• Parabolani on Wikipedia.Wikipedia