noun · masculinethird declension
mūniceps
mūniceps m or f (genitive mūnicipis)
Classical[ˈmuː.nɪ.kɛps]Ecclesiastical[ˈmuː.ni.t͡ʃeps]
Meaning
- citizen (of a municipium)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | mūniceps | mūnicipēs |
| genitive | mūnicipis | mūnicipum |
| dative | mūnicipī | mūnicipibus |
| accusative | mūnicipem | mūnicipēs |
| ablative | mūnicipe | mūnicipibus |
| vocative | mūniceps | mūnicipēs |
mūnĭ-ceps, ĭpis (
I. gen. plur., municipium for municipum, Tab. Heracl. ap. Mazoch. line 71), comm. munia-capio, v. infra, an inhabitant of a municipium or free town, a burgher, citizen (class.): municeps, qui in municipio liber natus est. Item, qui ex alio genere hominum munus functus est. Item qui in municipio a servitute se liberavit a municipe. Item municipes erant, qui ex aliis civitatibus Romam venissent, quious non licebat magistratum capere, sed tantum muneris partem, ut fuerunt Cumani, Acerrani, Atellani, qui et cives Romani erant, et in legione merebant, sed dignitates non capiebant, Paul. ex Fest. p. 131 Müll. (v. infra):
municipes sunt cives Romani ex municipiis, legibus suis et suo jure utentes: muneris tantum cum populo Romano honorarii participes: a quo munere capessendo appellati videntur, nullis aliis necessitatibus, neque ullā populi Romani lege astricti, nisi, inquam, populus eorum fundus factus est. Primos autem municipes sine suffragii jure Caerites esse factos, accepimus: concessumque illis, ut civitatis Romanae honorem quidem caperent, sed negotiis tamen atque oneribus vacarent, pro sacris bello Gallico receptis custoditisque, Gell. 16, 13, 6: municeps Cosanus, a citizen of (the municipium of) Cosa, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 62, § 161.—II. Transf.
A. A fellow-citizen, fellowcountryman:
municeps noster, our fellowcountryman, Cic. Brut. 70, 246: amavit Glyceram municipem suam, his fellow-countrywoman, Plin. 35, 11, 40, § 125: di municipes, a term applied in contempt to those deities who were confined to particular localities: videmus gentiles deos colere municipes, ut Eleusinios Cererem, Phrygas Matrem, Epidaurios Aesculapium, Min. Fel. Oct. 6.—Poet., of fishes: vendere municipes siluros, Juv. 4, 33.—Of inanim. things: municipes Jovis advexisse lagenas, bottles, the countrymen of Jove, i. e. Cretan bottles, Juv. 14, 271.—B. A freedman in a municipium, Dig. 50, 1, 1; so ib. 23 and 27.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
mūniceps ipis
munia+CAP-, an inhabitant of a free town, burgher, citizen : reliqui, Cs.: Cosanus, a citizen of Cosa.—A fellow-citizen, fellowcountryman : alqm municipem habere, Cs.: in singulos municipes benignitas.—Poet., of fishes: vendere municipes siluros, Iu.—Of things: municipes Iovis advexisse lagenas, i. e. bottles of Crete , Iu.
Origins
According to De Vaan, perhaps from earlier *mūnia-kap-s, itself from mūnia (“duties, functions”) + -ceps. Alternatively, De Vaan suggests that it emerged as a back-formation from mūnicipium. Other theories suggests that it may derive from *mūni-cap-s, itself from the underlying i-stem form *mūni implied by mūnia.