Pontius

Latin

Etymology

From the gens name Pontii, of Samnite/Sabine origin, from Oscan 𐌐𐌏𐌍𐌕𐌖𐌔 (pontus), 𐌐𐌏𐌌𐌐𐌕𐌖𐌔 (pomptus), which by Oscan sound laws would be the equivalent of the Latin names Quintus, Quinctia, Quinctilia, all from Proto-Italic *kʷenkʷe (“five”). Or, from pons (“bridge”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpon.ti.us/, [ˈpɔn̪t̪iʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpon.t͡si.us/, [ˈpɔnt̪͡s̪ius]

Proper noun

Pontius m sg (genitive Pontiī or Pontī); second declension

1. a Roman nomen gentile, gens or "family name", famously held by:
   1. Pontius Pilatus

Declension

Second-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Pontius
Genitive	Pontiī Pontī1
Dative	Pontiō
Accusative	Pontium
Ablative	Pontiō
Vocative	Pontī

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

Derived terms

• Pontia

Descendants

• Catalan: Ponç
• French: Ponce
• Italian: Ponzio
• Occitan: Ponç
• Romanian: Ponțiu
• Vietnamese: Phongxiô (Catholic), Bôn-xơ (Protestant)

References

• “Pontius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Pontius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897), p. 127-129