comitatus

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin comitatus, from comes (“companion”). Doublet of county, from Anglo-Norman/Old French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɒmɪˈteɪtəs/

  Rhymes: -eɪtəs

Noun

comitatus (plural comitatuses or comitatus)

1. (historical) A group of warriors or nobles accompanying a king or other leader.
2. (historical) A county, shire.

Related terms

• posse comitatus

Latin

Etymology

Perfect participle of comitor, from comes.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ko.miˈtaː.tus/, [kɔmɪˈt̪äːt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ko.miˈta.tus/, [komiˈt̪äːt̪us]

Participle

comitātus (feminine comitāta, neuter comitātum); first/second-declension participle

1. accompanied, guarded, served, attended; having been accompanied, etc.
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.579–580:

     “‘[...] coniugiumque, domumque, patrēs, nātōsque vidēbit,
     Īliadum turbā et Phrygiīs comitāta ministrīs?’”

     “‘And [Helen] will [again] see her husband, home, parents, and children, attended by her train: Trojan [women] and Phrygian slaves?’”
     (An expression of surprise or indignation posed as a question.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	comitātus	comitāta	comitātum		comitātī	comitātae	comitāta
Genitive	comitātī	comitātae	comitātī		comitātōrum	comitātārum	comitātōrum
Dative	comitātō		comitātō		comitātīs
Accusative	comitātum	comitātam	comitātum		comitātōs	comitātās	comitāta
Ablative	comitātō	comitātā	comitātō		comitātīs
Vocative	comitāte	comitāta	comitātum		comitātī	comitātae	comitāta

Derived terms

• incomitātus

References

• “cŏmĭtātus¹”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cŏmĭtātus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, pages 348/1–2.

Noun

comitātus m (genitive comitātūs); fourth declension

2. company or troop of soldiers
3. an escort or attending multitude, especially an imperial escort or retinue
4. combination, association
6. county

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	comitātus	comitātūs
Genitive	comitātūs	comitātuum
Dative	comitātuī	comitātibus
Accusative	comitātum	comitātūs
Ablative	comitātū	comitātibus
Vocative	comitātus	comitātūs

Derived terms

• comitātensis
• comitālis (Medieval Latin)

Descendants

• Asturian: condáu
• Catalan: comtat
• English: comitatus
• French: comté
• Irish: contae
• Italian: contado
• Occitan: comtat
• Old French: conté
  • Italian: contea
• Portuguese: condado
• Sicilian: cuntatu
• Spanish: condado

References

• “cŏmĭtātus²”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “comitatus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• comitatus 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)
• cŏmĭtātŭs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 348/2.
• comitatus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “comitatus”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, pages 207–209