Мουσικός — musicus — musician. An Essay about the Music Terminology of Boethius

The article discusses a keyword musicus used in the Boethius’ treatise "Fundamentals of Music" (written between 500 and 510). The problem is that the original connotations of this word became alien to the modern musicology, therefore an appropriate translation is absent from the modern language. The author of the article unfolds the broad context of the musicus usage in early documents (Ancient Greek and Roman as well as archaic Russian sources) to argue his own attempt of rendering an alien concept into contemporary Russian language. Finally, a new (Russian) translation of the famous Boethius’ "Quid sit musicus" chapter is supplied.