# munus
## Latin
### Alternative forms

* moenus

### Etymology

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: /ˈmuː.nus/, [ˈmuːnʊs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈmu.nus/, [ˈmuːnus]

### Noun

mūnus n (genitive mūneris); third declension
* 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 the good Venus, of the good love uniter.
* a burden, duty, obligation
* a service, favor
* a spectacle, public show
* (in the plural) a public building made at the expense of an individual
** 2 CE, Ovid, The Art of Love 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.
* a gift
    Synonyms: praemium, datum, donum
** 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.185:in stipulā placidī capiēbat mūnera somnīOn stubble he was enjoying the gifts of peaceful sleep

#### Declension

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

#### Derived terms

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

#### Descendants

* Italian: muno
* Portuguese: múnus

### References

* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “mūnus, -eris”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 395

### 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’s 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, 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
* Romanization of 𒊩 (munus)