pateressa

Latin

Etymology

From pater (“father”) +‎ -essa, a form of -issa (“-ess, female”) (e is frequently used for i at Venosa, where this term is attested).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /pa.teˈres.sa/, [pät̪ɛˈrɛs̠ːä]

(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pa.teˈres.sa/, [pät̪eˈrɛsːä]

Noun

pateressa f (genitive pateressae); first declension

(post-classical, Jewish, hapax) The meaning of this term is uncertain (translated as fatheress).
- 5th–early 6th century (epitaph) , (Venosa; in situ: arcosolium D2, grave 8; in Latin and Hebrew; image;;[1] facsimile[2]):[3][4][5][6]
  HIC REQVESC / ET ALEXSANRA / PATERESSA QVI V[IX] / IT ANORO PLUS M[INUS —] / שלום
  Here rests Alexsanra the fatheress, who lived more or less [—] years. Shalom (peace).

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pateressa	pateressae
Genitive	pateressae	pateressārum
Dative	pateressae	pateressīs
Accusative	pateressam	pateressās
Ablative	pateressā	pateressīs
Vocative	pateressa	pateressae

References

Ernst Munkácsi (1939) Der Jude von Neapel: die historischen und kunstgeschichtlichen Denkmäler des Süditalienischen Judentums (in German), “Abb. 46.”, pages 86–87
Michele Ruggiero (1888) Degli scavi di antichità nelle province di terraferma dell'antico regno di Napoli dal 1743 al 1876 (in Italian), “30”, pages 504–505
Pieter W. van der Horst (1991) Ancient Jewish Epitaphs: An Introductory Survey of a Millennium of Jewish Funerary Epigraphy (300 BCE - 700 CE), Kok Pharos Publishing House, published 1996, →ISBN, page 108:
Pateressa (606), ‘fatheress’, is unparallelled and it is therefore impossible to be sure about its meaning or about the function implied. But it is a not unreasonable guess that the deceased woman received this novel title to designate her as a female ‘father’, i.e. mother of the synagogue. But, since pater can also designate a municipal official, “the question of whether pateressa implied a synagogue function or a civic one, must remain open.”
David Noy (1993) Jewish Inscriptions of Western Europe, volumes 1: “Italy (excluding the City of Rome), Spain and Gaul”, Cambridge University Press, published 2005, →ISBN, pages 84, 85:
63 (CIJ i 606): Venosa: 5th–early 6th century. Epitaph; Latin and Hebrew. / In situ: arcosolium D2, grave 8. / […] / Text follows CIJ (majuscule text). / hic requesc|et Alexsanr(i)a | pateressa qui v[ix]|it anoro plus m[inus - - ] | שלום / […] / Here rests Alexandria the fatheress, who lived more or less .. years. Peace. / […] / Pateressa is clearly to be regarded as a title, the feminine version of pater, formed in the same way as Christian and medieval Latin words like presbyterissa, senatorissa, from (usually 3rd-declension) masculine nouns (cf. πατρώνισσα in a 2nd–3rd century inscription from Cyprus, AE (1975) 830); the -essa ending here reflects the frequent use of e for i at Venosa. Leon understood the word as designating the wife of a pater. Lenormant equated it to mater synagogae at Rome, but Alexandria was explicitly not described as mater (cf. no.116). She must be regarded as a woman in the same position as a pater (see no.56).
J. N. Adams, Mark Janse, Simon Swain, editors (2002), Bilingualism in Ancient Society: Language Contact and the Written Text, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 185: “JIWE i. 63: Hic requescet Alexsanra pateressa qui u[ix]it anoro plus m[inus —] שלום. (LGHelex) / Here rests Alexsanra the fatheress, who lived more or less — years. Peace.”
J. N. Adams (2003) Bilingualism and the Latin Language, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 422:
There are other hybrids in late Latin. -issa, which was productive from the Byzantine period in Greek (see, e.g. P.Oxy. iii. 478.27 πατρώνισσα (πατρωνείσης), cited by Cavenaile (1952: 195)), is not only found in words of Greek origin in Latin, but also occasionally attached to Latin bases (e.g. sacerdotissa). In a Jewish inscription from Venusia (Noy (1993), 63 hic requescet Alexsanra pateressa) pateressa is the feminine correspondent of the masculine title of the synagogue pater, which sometimes retains the e of the nominative in oblique cases in the same corpus (e.g. Noy (1993), 61 πατερις).

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[1] Ernst Munkácsi (1939) Der Jude von Neapel: die historischen und kunstgeschichtlichen Denkmäler des Süditalienischen Judentums (in German), “Abb. 46.”, pages 86–87

[2] Michele Ruggiero (1888) Degli scavi di antichità nelle province di terraferma dell'antico regno di Napoli dal 1743 al 1876 (in Italian), “30”, pages 504–505

[3] Pieter W. van der Horst (1991) Ancient Jewish Epitaphs: An Introductory Survey of a Millennium of Jewish Funerary Epigraphy (300 BCE - 700 CE), Kok Pharos Publishing House, published 1996, →ISBN, page 108:
Pateressa (606), ‘fatheress’, is unparallelled and it is therefore impossible to be sure about its meaning or about the function implied. But it is a not unreasonable guess that the deceased woman received this novel title to designate her as a female ‘father’, i.e. mother of the synagogue. But, since pater can also designate a municipal official, “the question of whether pateressa implied a synagogue function or a civic one, must remain open.”

[4] David Noy (1993) Jewish Inscriptions of Western Europe, volumes 1: “Italy (excluding the City of Rome), Spain and Gaul”, Cambridge University Press, published 2005, →ISBN, pages 84, 85:
63 (CIJ i 606): Venosa: 5th–early 6th century. Epitaph; Latin and Hebrew. / In situ: arcosolium D2, grave 8. / […] / Text follows CIJ (majuscule text). / hic requesc|et Alexsanr(i)a | pateressa qui v[ix]|it anoro plus m[inus - - ] | שלום / […] / Here rests Alexandria the fatheress, who lived more or less .. years. Peace. / […] / Pateressa is clearly to be regarded as a title, the feminine version of pater, formed in the same way as Christian and medieval Latin words like presbyterissa, senatorissa, from (usually 3rd-declension) masculine nouns (cf. πατρώνισσα in a 2nd–3rd century inscription from Cyprus, AE (1975) 830); the -essa ending here reflects the frequent use of e for i at Venosa. Leon understood the word as designating the wife of a pater. Lenormant equated it to mater synagogae at Rome, but Alexandria was explicitly not described as mater (cf. no.116). She must be regarded as a woman in the same position as a pater (see no.56).

[5] J. N. Adams, Mark Janse, Simon Swain, editors (2002), Bilingualism in Ancient Society: Language Contact and the Written Text, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 185: “JIWE i. 63: Hic requescet Alexsanra pateressa qui u[ix]it anoro plus m[inus —] שלום. (LGHelex) / Here rests Alexsanra the fatheress, who lived more or less — years. Peace.”

[6] J. N. Adams (2003) Bilingualism and the Latin Language, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 422:
There are other hybrids in late Latin. -issa, which was productive from the Byzantine period in Greek (see, e.g. P.Oxy. iii. 478.27 πατρώνισσα (πατρωνείσης), cited by Cavenaile (1952: 195)), is not only found in words of Greek origin in Latin, but also occasionally attached to Latin bases (e.g. sacerdotissa). In a Jewish inscription from Venusia (Noy (1993), 63 hic requescet Alexsanra pateressa) pateressa is the feminine correspondent of the masculine title of the synagogue pater, which sometimes retains the e of the nominative in oblique cases in the same corpus (e.g. Noy (1993), 61 πατερις).