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ArchivesRe: Beatrice and her meaning
in reply to a message by Gaia
Viatrix is more like 'Traveller' than 'Voyager' - a more generalised meaning, and probably parents choosing that name would have been thinking about their daughter's journey through life.
The -trix ending is just 'woman who does something', eg Victor = winner, Victrix = female winner. Also, in Harry Potter, Bellatrix = female warrior. It seems to me that there is not necessarily a link between Viatrix and Beatrix: V and B are often interchangeable in different languages: Barbara and Varvara, Deborah and Devorah etc. But in ancient and early Christian Latin, the V would have a W sound, so that wouldn't work. The -i- in Viatrix would have sounded like -ee-, and the -e- in Beatrix like -ay-. And there seems to be no reason why parents would use Viatrix as a stepping stone to Beatrix. Surely they would just add the usual -trix ending to a newly significant religious word: beatus doesn't mean 'happy' as in 'cheerful' in Christian Latin - there, it firmly means 'blessed'. And in preChristian Latin it means 'happy' or 'glad' or 'fortunate' but not 'cheerful' either - that would be laetus, as in Laetitia. Which leaves Beatrix, and Beatrice, meaning 'woman who brings (or is?) a blessing/blessings.
The -trix ending is just 'woman who does something', eg Victor = winner, Victrix = female winner. Also, in Harry Potter, Bellatrix = female warrior. It seems to me that there is not necessarily a link between Viatrix and Beatrix: V and B are often interchangeable in different languages: Barbara and Varvara, Deborah and Devorah etc. But in ancient and early Christian Latin, the V would have a W sound, so that wouldn't work. The -i- in Viatrix would have sounded like -ee-, and the -e- in Beatrix like -ay-. And there seems to be no reason why parents would use Viatrix as a stepping stone to Beatrix. Surely they would just add the usual -trix ending to a newly significant religious word: beatus doesn't mean 'happy' as in 'cheerful' in Christian Latin - there, it firmly means 'blessed'. And in preChristian Latin it means 'happy' or 'glad' or 'fortunate' but not 'cheerful' either - that would be laetus, as in Laetitia. Which leaves Beatrix, and Beatrice, meaning 'woman who brings (or is?) a blessing/blessings.
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