Tiberius

From Latin Tiberius, literally 'Of the Tiber', from Tiberis, the river Tiber. Also note Faliscan equivalent *Tiferios. The name is mistaken by some to be of Etruscan origin but note the borrowed variants, Thefarie (from Faliscan) and Teperi (from Latin).

• IPA^(key): /taɪˈbɪəɹ.i.əs/, /tɪˈbɛɹiʊs/
• Rhymes: -ɪəɹiəs

Tiberius (plural Tiberiuses)

1. (historical) A male given name from Latin of mostly historical use, in particular, the praenomen of the second Roman emperor Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, reigning 14-37 C.E..
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 3:1:

     Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,

• Tiberian, Tiberias

• Beirutis

• Ti. (praenominal abbreviation)

From Tiberis (“Tiber river”) +‎ -ius (“relative adjective marker”). C.f. Etruscan 𐌈𐌄𐌚𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌄 (θefarie), presumably borrowed from Faliscan *Tiferio(s).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /tiˈbe.ri.us/, [t̪ɪˈbɛriʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /tiˈbe.ri.us/, [t̪iˈbɛːrius]

Tiberius m (genitive Tiberiī or Tiberī); second declension

1. A masculine praenomen, famously held by:

   Tiberius Caesar Augustus (42 B.C.E.–37 C.E.), second Emperor of the Roman Empire, reigning 14–37 C.E.

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Luke 3.1:

     Anno autem quintodecimo imperii Tiberii Cæsaris, procurante Pontio Pilato Judæam, tetrarcha autem Galiææ Herode, Philippo autem fratre ejus tetrarcha Iturææ, et Trachonitidis regionis, et Lysania Abilinæ tetrarcha, sub principibus sacerdotum Anna et Caipha : factum est verbum Domini super Joannem, Zachariæ filium, in deserto.

     Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea, and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina; under the high priests Annas and Caiphas; the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert.

2. (history) A male given name of historical usage, notably borne by Emperors of the Byzantine Roman Empire Tiberius II Constantinus (r. 574–582 C.E.) and Tiberius III (r. 698–705 C.E.)

Second-declension noun.

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

• “Tĭbĕrĭus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Tiberius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1574.
• Tiberius in Georges, Karl Ernst, Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918) Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 2, Hahnsche Buchhandlung, column 3121
• “Tiberius”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers