munus

mun-us

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, , 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^(key): [ˈmuː.nʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmuː.nus]

Noun

mūnus n (genitive mūneris); third declension

1. a service, office, employment

   Synonyms: ministerium, negōtium, officium, cūra, cūrātiō

2. a burden, duty, obligation
3. a service, favor
4. a spectacle, public show
5. (in the plural) a public building made at the expense of an individual
6. a gift

   Synonyms: praemium, datum, donum

Declension

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

	singular	plural
nominative	mūnus	mūnera
genitive	mūneris	mūnerum
dative	mūnerī	mūneribus
accusative	mūnus	mūnera
ablative	mūnere	mūneribus
vocative	mūnus	mūnera