Re: CHAT: duumvirate (was: congovernment)

On Sunday, November 23, 2003, at 10:28 PM, John Cowan wrote:

> Ray Brown scripsit:
>
>> A 'triumuir' is actually 'trium uir' = "a man out of three [men]",
>> i.e. one of a board or tribunal of three.  The plural can be _triumuiri_
>> but the logical _tres uiri_ ('the three men [of the board]') was
>> also used.  But the office held by each _triumuir_ was known as a
>> _triumuiratus_ (4th decl.), hence English _triumvirate_.
>
> <rant>It just drives me nuts when people apply "triumvirate" to anything
> not involving three *persons* -- I think the crowning case was a company
> that referred to its three sub-businesses as a "triumvirate".</rant>
A triumcoporate presumably  :)

Of course the Latin is even more specific: it must involve ony three *adult
males*    :)

I suppose a board of three persons ought to be a *triumhominate.  But would
a board of three adult females be a *triumfeminate or *trimmulierate?

Ray
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