Caesar

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See also: caesar, Cäsar, and Cæsar

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin Caesar. Displaced Old English cāsere, which would have yielded *caser, *coser, and Middle English keiser, kaiser, from Old Norse and continental Germanic languages. All ultimately from the same Latin root. (See also Kaiser and tsar.)[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Caesar (plural Caesars or Caesares)

  1. An ancient Roman family name, notably that of Julius Caesar.
    • 1891, William Rainey Harper, Herbert Cushing Tolman, Eight Books of Caesar’s Gallic War, New York, N.Y., Cincinnati, Oh., Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company, page 2:
      The Caesars were an ancient and aristocratic family, which for eight generations had been prominent in the commonwealth.
    • 1955, Papers and Monographs of the w:American Academy in Rome, volume 16, page 100:
      Habel, 63 ff., believes that up to 51 the emperors bestowed priesthoods on the Caesares, using their special power of commendation; but that these Caesares were forced to wait until a place in a college was vacant; that after 51 the Caesares were elected by the senate.
    • 1965, Taylor Caldwell, A Pillar of Iron, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 128:
      To the powerful, the Caesares were flattering, deferential, sincerely devoted, self-sacrificing, loyal, eagerly serving.
    • 1975, Collection Latomus, volume 142, page 39:
      Five of the Caesares were killed during the years 90-85 (D. G., 3, 114).
    • 1996, Antichthon, volumes 34–36, page 56:
      […] Off. 1.133 and Att. 13.19.4 do not establish the uterine relationship of Catulus and the Caesares, merely the fact that Catulus and the Caesares were regarded as fratres.
    • 1999, Friedrich Münzer, translated by Thérèse Ridley, Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 319:
      Of the two plebeian candidates Silanus obviously counted on the assistance of Manlius, who was in office and to whom he was related from the grandfather, but his rival, a Minucius who had become a Marcius, counted on the patrician rival Caesar and on the other consul, L. Aurelius Cotta, because the Caesares were related by marriage both with the Marcii and the Cottae; in fact, Silanus was defeated by their coalition.
    • 2000, Richard W[alter] Hooper, Representative Chapters in Ancient History: From Romulus to Justinian, University Press of America, →ISBN, page 542:
      The Pulchri were a branch of the Clodius family, just as the Caesares were of the Julii.
    • 2009, Ernst Badian, “From the Iulii to Caesar”, in Miriam Griffin, editor, A Companion to Julius Caesar, Wiley Blackwell, →ISBN, page 15:
      He was joined on this commission by C. Caesar Strabo (RE Iulius no. 135), of another branch of the Caesares, who had stressed his heritage by adding the old Julian praenomen Vopiscus (see the cos. 473, MRR 1.29) to his name as a cognomen.
    • 2012, Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, Esther Eidinow, editors, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 755:
      By about the middle of the 2nd cent., the Caesares were claiming descent from *Ascanius and, through him, from his grandmother Venus (see the coins Crawford, RRC 258, 129 bc, and 320, 103 bc, the latter with a symbolic reference to Apollo, the ancient god of the gens).
  2. (figuratively) The government; society; earthly powers.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 22:21:
      Render therefore vnto Ceſar, the things which are Ceſars: and vnto God, the things that are Gods.
    • 1861, David Page, The past and present life of the globe‎[1], page 9:
      let it be clearly understood that we are dealing with Life solely in its geological aspects. We appeal unto Caesar; let us be judged by Caesar’s laws.
    • 1957, Awake‎[2], volume 38, number 14, page 6:
      Caesar may discriminate unjustly against certain races. Christians are not to take issue with Caesar's laws on such matters and flout them, but should submit.
    • 2003, Carol Kammen, On Doing Local History‎[3], page 76:
      It is the story of churches that split apart over this issue and of ministers finding ways to justify the return of slaves because they were under the aegis of the laws of Caesar, not the laws of God.
    • 2012, Christopher Buckley, God Is My Broker‎[4]:
      But I know that Caesar's laws have been broken, and someone has to pay. I'm your man. These are good monks. If they committed any crime, it was to believe in me.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from Caesar

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

Caesar (plural Caesars or (title) Caesares)

  1. A title of Roman emperors.
    • 1889, The Classical Review, volume III, London: David Nutt, […], page 232:
      Constantius Chlorus and Galerius became Caesares in 293; […]
    • 1976, The Archaeology and History of the Carpi from the Second to the Fourth Century AD, →ISBN, page 171:
      Owing to the victories gained in the wars from 295-297, the two Augusti, Diocletian and Maximian, and the two Caesares, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, took the title of Carpicus Maximus, the last three receiving this title five times after the fighting from 302-303 (see Table 13).
    • 1993, Fergus Millar, The Roman Near East, 31 BC – AD 337, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 182:
      For within the principia the highest, and focal, point of the whole ensemble is formed by the ‘temple of the standards’, on whose lintel a Latin inscription proudly proclaimed the completion of the work: ‘The Repairers of their world and Propagators of the human race, our Lords Diocletianus and Maximianus, the most unconquered Imperatores, and Constantius and Maximianus (i.e., Galerius), the most noble Caesares, have successfully founded the camp (castra), under the care of Sossianus Hierocles, vir perfectissimus, governor (praeses) of the province, devoted to their numen and maiestas’.
  2. An absolute ruler; an autocrat.
  3. Abbreviation of Caesar salad.
    • 2010, Cara Goldsbury, The Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World® Resort: How to Get the Most Out of the Best Disney Has to Offer, 3rd edition, Guilford, Conn.: GPP Travel, →ISBN, page 309:
      A garlicky Caesar is a nice starter with whole Romaine leaves and crispy sourdough croutons, but most can’t resist the creamy, but very rich, signature lobster soup.
    • 2012, Paul Sunshine Murphy, The Island Caper, 2nd edition, Mustang, Okla.: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, →ISBN, page 48:
      I tell her that I would love a Caesar, which happens to be my favorite salad.
  4. (Canada) A Caesar cocktail.
  5. (medicine, colloquial) Short for Caesarean section.

Alternative forms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “Caesar”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams[edit]

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Caesar m anim (related adjective Caesarův)

  1. Caesar (ancient Roman family name)

Declension[edit]

Declension of Caesar (hard masculine animate)
singular plural
nominative Caesar Caesarové
genitive Caesara Caesarů
dative Caesarovi, Caesaru Caesarům
accusative Caesara Caesary
vocative Caesare Caesarové
locative Caesarovi, Caesaru Caesarech
instrumental Caesarem Caesary

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈt͡sɛːzaʁ] (standard; used naturally in western Germany and Switzerland)
  • IPA(key): [ˈt͡seːzaʁ] (overall more common; particularly northern and eastern regions)
  • Hyphenation: Cae‧sar
  • Audio(file)

Noun[edit]

Caesar m (weak, genitive Caesaren, plural Caesaren)

  1. Alternative spelling of Cäsar

Declension[edit]

Declension of Caesar [masculine, weak]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Caesar die Caesaren
genitive eines des Caesaren der Caesaren
dative einem dem Caesaren den Caesaren
accusative einen den Caesaren die Caesaren

Further reading[edit]

  • “Caesar” in Duden online
  • “Caesar” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Latin[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unknown. Etymology was subject to many interpretations in antiquity, all of which remain doubtful. Among these are:

  • From a Punic word for “elephant”. This etymology was endorsed by Julius Caesar himself, thereby following the claims of his family that they inherited the cognomen from an ancestor, who had received the name after killing an elephant, possibly during the first Punic war.
  • From the phrase a caesiis oculis ("because of the blue eyes"): Caesar's eyes were black, but since the despotic dictator Sulla had had blue eyes, this interpretation might have been created as part of the anti-Caesarian propaganda in order to present Caesar as a tyrant.
  • From the phrase a caesariē ("because of the hair"): Since Caesar was balding, this interpretation might have been part of the anti-Caesarian mockery.
  • From the phrase a caeso matris utero ("born by Caesarean section"): In theory this might go back to an unknown Julian ancestor who was born in this way. On the other hand, it could also have been part of the anti-Caesarian propaganda.
  • From the verb caedō (“to cut”), in the argument of the Julians for receiving a sodality of the Lupercalia. The praenomen Kaeso (or Caeso) was best known from the Quinctii and the Fabii, possibly derived from their ritual duty of striking with the goat-skin at the luperci Quinctiales and the luperci Fabiani.

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Caesar m (genitive Caesaris); third declension

  1. a Roman cognomen of the gens Iulia, notably that of Gaius Iulius Caesar, subsequently used as an imperial title.

Declension[edit]

Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative Caesar Caesarēs
Genitive Caesaris Caesarum
Dative Caesarī Caesaribus
Accusative Caesarem Caesarēs
Ablative Caesare Caesaribus
Vocative Caesar Caesarēs

Descendants[edit]

Descendants

References[edit]

  • “Caesar”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • Caesar in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Caesar in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎[5], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Swedish[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

Caesar c (genitive Caesars)

  1. a male given name from Latin Caesar, of rare usage
  2. Roman cognomen, especially referring to Gaius Julius Caesar
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