munus

See also: Munus and múnus

Latin

Alternative forms

• moenus

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mey-

Proto-Indo-European *moy-nósder.

Proto-Italic *moinos

Latin mūnus

From Proto-Italic *moinos.

Like mūnia (“duties”), it is derived from Proto-Indo-European *moy-nós, from *mey- (“change, swap”). As is the case with such derivatives as "municipality", and "immunity", the concept of trading goods and services in a way that conforms to a society's laws is quite pertinent to this term. From the addition of the "com-" prefix came commūnis (“common, public”), which is cognate to Proto-Germanic *gamainiz (“shared, communal, public”).

The semantic shift to 'gift' is explained by Sextus Pompeius Festus thus:

• 1839 [8th century CE], Paulus Diaconus, edited by Karl Otfried Müller, Excerpta ex libris Pompeii Festi De significatione verborum, page 140, line 12:

  Mūnus sīgnificat officium, cum dīcitur quis mūnere fungī. Item dōnum quod officiī causā datur.

  Mūnus means office, when someone is said to perform his office. Also 'gift', since it's given because of the service.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmuː.nʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmuː.nus]

Noun

mūnus n (genitive mūneris); third declension

1. a service, office, employment

   Synonyms: ministerium, negōtium, officium, cūra, cūrātiō

   • c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 61.41–45:

     […] ut lubentius, audiēns
     sē citārier ad suum
     mūnus, hūc aditum ferat
     dux bonae Veneris, bonī
          coniugātor amōris.

     […] so that with more pleasure, hearing
     himself being hurried to his
     office, towards here might come
     the herald of noble Venus, uniter of
          goodly love.

2. a burden, duty, obligation
3. a service, favor
4. a spectacle, public show
5. (in the plural) a public building made at the expense of an individual
   • 2 CE, Ovidius, Ars Amatoria 1.67–70:

     Tū modo Pompeiā lentus spatiāre sub umbrā,
          cum sōl Herculeī terga leōnis adit:
     aut ubi mūneribus nātī sua mūnera māter
          addidit, externō marmore dīves opus.

     Just slowly take a walk under the shadow,
          when the sun goes towards the back of the Herculean lion;
     or where the mother to her son's buildings her own buildings
          has added, a work rich by its exterior marble.

   • c. 81 CE, Martial, Dē Spectāculīs 2.7–8:

     Hīc ubi mīrāmur vēlōcia mūnera thermās,
          abstulerat miserīs tēcta superbus ager.

     Here where we wonder at the speedy public building of a bath,
          a vain tract of land had taken the houses away from the poor.

6. a gift

   Synonyms: praemium, datum, donum

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 3.185:

     in stipulā placidī capiēbat mūnera somnī

     On stubble he was enjoying the gifts of peaceful sleep

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	mūnus	mūnera
genitive	mūneris	mūnerum
dative	mūnerī	mūneribus
accusative	mūnus	mūnera
ablative	mūnere	mūneribus
vocative	mūnus	mūnera

Derived terms

• immūnis
• mūnerābundus
• mūnerālis
• mūnerārius
• mūnerātiō
• mūnerātor
• mūnerigerulus
• mūnerō
• mūnia
• mūniceps
• mūnicipium
• mūnificēns
• mūnificus
• mūnis
• mūnusculum
• remūnerō

Related terms

• commūnis

Descendants

• Italian: muno
• Portuguese: múnus

Further reading

• “munus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “munus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "munus", 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)
• “munus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to give a gladiatorial show: munus gladiatorium edere, dare (or simply munus edere, dare)
    
  • to live a perfect life: virtutis perfectae perfecto munere fungi (Tusc. 1. 45. 109)
    
  • banished from public life: rei publicae muneribus orbatus
    
  • to perform official duties: munus administrare, gerere
    
  • to perform official duties: munere fungi, muneri praeesse
    
  • to appoint some one to an office: muneri aliquem praeficere, praeponere
    
  • to fulfil the duties of one's position: munus explere, sustinere
    
  • to remove a person from his office: abrogare alicui munus (Verr. 2. 57)
    
  • a man who has held many offices: honoribus ac reipublicae muneribus perfunctus (De Or. 1. 45)
    
• “munus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “munus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Sumerian

Romanization

munus

1. romanization of 𒊩 (munus)