Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to propose an etymology of the Latin word dubenus, attested only in Paulus’ epitome of Festus as an archaic word meaning ‘dominus’. After showing the genuineness of the tradition, I intend to account for such a gloss from a linguistic point of view. Abstractly, dubenus can be analysed as a noun or a substantive adjective derived with the suffix -ēnofrom a base *dubo-, nomen actionis in -bo- < *-bho- or in -mo- < *-mo- (with subsequent dissimilation of -m- to -b-) from the base du- < *deH3w- ‘to give’. As an alternative, dubenus can be a writing error for duhenus, i.e. duenos ‘bonus’ (< *deH3w-eno-) with h as a marker of hiatus and -us for -os as a normalized ending. In both cases, dubenus/duhenus would mean ‘dominus’ in relation to the notion of giving (*dubeno- ‘the one of the giving’, *dueno- ‘provided with gifts’), in accordance with a semantic evolution which can be suitably framed from a historical perspective. Specifically, it is possible to hypothesize that, in early Roman society, the dominus was the one who gave (and received) gifts in order to maintain both social relationships existing with his peers and hierarchies within society. More generally, dubenus/duhenus ‘dominus’ could be considered as a linguistic relic of an Indo-European ideological system in which, as shown by Benveniste, social status was determined by the exchange of gifts through a practice similar to the potlatch.
