Hello,
I’m reading “The Wordhord” by Hana Videen at the moment and given that it’s about Old English words, I really shouldn’t be writing about a Roman word in English, but she mentioned convivial in passing and it reminded me that I like the word but hadn’t explored its roots.
Convivial (meaning relating to a feast) has been with us since the 1660s and I suppose we’ve always needed words about parties, as Hana was talking about ge-bēor-scripe – which translates literally as a beer-ship, but is more like a formal meal taken in company, and not always with beer.
She explained that the Last Supper was a ge-bēor-scripe, as was the Pharoah’s birthday celebration according to Old English translators of the Bible and I can only imagine those events had very different vibes from a round of beers, or cocktails, in the pub.
But what about the convivial Romans? Did they break bread with a dozen close friends, toast with mead like the Vikings, or party like an Egyptian?
Convivial arrived in English from Latin convivialis (relating to a feast) thanks to convivium (a feast) and convivere (to carouse together or to live together). They are all formed by joining com (together) which we also find in words like community and vivere (to live) which French speakers will recognise as linked to vivre (to live). By the time the word reached the 1700s the idea of feasting wasn’t compulsory to its meaning. You could say somebody was convivial if they were sociable.
There were a few related words too. We still have convivially and conviviality, although they’re not used much now.
One I had never heard of was convive. It dates to the 1600s again and is the term for a boon companion, a convivial person. It has the same roots in Latin where it was a conviva – a guest or table-companion. By the 1850s it was still in English and was a term for a woman who lives in the same house with a number of others. I’d love to know the context of that. Was it a group of female-workers sharing lodgings? A matriarchal family group? We don’t have many records of women living without a male presence in that time period and I’m intrigued that it was common enough to have its own word. Can any of you shed any light on convive?
Until next time happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,
Grace (@Wordfoolery)
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