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abrumpo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [abˈrʊm.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [abˈrum.po][1]

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

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