Pontifex maximus pointed out that the term existed before there were any bridges in Rome and derived the word from Old Latin "pontis" (sic) meaning a powerful or absolute master, while others derived it from "potis facere" in the sense of "able to sacrifice". The last derivation is mentioned also by Varro, who rejected it, but it was the view of Pontifex Maximus Quintus Scaevola. Others have held that the word was originally "pompifex" (leader of public processions). The word "pons" originally meant "way" and "pontifex" would thus mean "maker of roads and bridges". Another opinion is that the word is a
Vulgar Latin many changes happened. For example, the of "ego" was lost by the end of the empire, and "eo" appears in manuscripts from the 6th century. Classical Latin had a number of different suffixes that made adverbs from adjectives: ', "dear", formed ', "dearly"; ', "fiercely", from '; ', "often", from '. All of these derivational suffixes were lost in Vulgar Latin, where adverbs were invariably formed by a feminine ablative form modifying ', which was originally the ablative of "mēns", and so meant "with a ... mind". So ' ("quick") instead of "" ("quickly") gave "veloci mente" (originally "with a