Etymologically
Log in

abscido

Etymology and origin of the Latin word abscido

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (caedō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [apˈskiː.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [abˈʃiː.do][1]

Forms

abscīdō (present infinitive abscīdere, perfect active abscīdī, supine abscīsum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled apscīdō.[2]

Etymology

It is from abs- “away” and caedō “to cut”.[2][1][3] Lewis & Short distinguish it from abscindō, to tear off.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL notes that it is rare before Livy, with one example each in Plautus, Varro and Cicero.[5] The OLD's earliest citation is from Caesar, of cutting off.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant to cut off, away or out, as in Caesar.[2] In Livy it meant to separate, cut off, and to banish from the mind, and in Quintilian to prune away superfluities.[2]

Its participle abscīsus gave English abscise in the 1610s, “to cut off”.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it once.[5][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of cutting off.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it figuratively.[2][6]
  • 1610s – English abscise is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cut off, cut away.[2]
  2. To separate; to remove.[2]
  3. To banish (from the mind).[2]
  4. To prune away.[2]

Word family

  • abscisio
  • abscīsus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Abscido.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/abscido. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·