abrumpo

Forms

abrumpō (present infinitive abrumpere, perfect active abrūpī, supine abruptum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ab- (“away”) + rumpō (“to break”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨rumpō⟩ to Proto-Italic *runp- (“to break”) and the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *Hru-n-p- of a root *Hrewp-, and compares Old English rēofan (“to break, tear”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Ennius as its first author.^[4] In the Annals a horse breaks its tether in its high spirits (vincla … abrūpit).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to break a bond or fetter, and to burst apart, as Virgil's clouds torn open by lightning.^[2][6] It is to break something continuous, to break off short, as Livy's cliff sheared off by a landslide, to tear off branches (Ovid), and to cut off a piece of land.^[2] Figuratively it is to cut short an action or condition, as a marriage in Catullus, to break away from a cause, as Cicero's legion that left Antony's banditry, and to violate a law, as Virgil's “he breaks all that is right”.^[2][6] Lewis and Short note it is mostly poetic and rare before Augustus.^[6]

Church Latin glosses it “loosen, separate, break”.^[7] English abrupt (1580s) comes from its past participle ⟨abruptus⟩, “broken off, steep”.^[3]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius of a horse breaking its bonds.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a legion breaking with Antony.^[2][5]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of a marriage cut short.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of bursting clouds and broken law.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a sheer cliff.^[2][5]
• 1580s – English abrupt.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To break (a bond); frēnōs abrumpere, to throw off all restraint.^[2][1][6]
2. To burst apart, tear open; to rupture.^[2][1]
3. To break off short; to tear off, sever.^[2][1][7]
4. To cut short, put an end to.^[2][1]
5. (reflexive) To break away (from a cause).^[2]
6. To break, violate (a law).^[2]

Word family

• abruptiō
• inabruptus
• abruptē
• abruptus

Related words

• rumpō
• English abrupt

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson