出典:Wiktionary
出典:『Wiktionary』 (2026/05/01 04:53 UTC 版)
pontifex (plural pontifices)
Often interpreted as a compound originally meaning “bridge-maker”, from Proto-Italic *pontifaks, equivalent to pōns, pontis m (“bridge”) + -fex, -ficis m (suffix representing a maker or producer), either metaphorically “one who negotiates between gods and men” or literally if at some point the social class which supplied the priests was more or less identical with engineers that were responsible for building bridges. Compare Sanskrit पथिकृत् (pathikṛ́t, “path-maker”), attested as an epithet of rishis in the Rig Veda.
pontifex m (genitive pontificis); third declension
Third-declension noun.