Etymologically
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abscindo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [apˈskɪn.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [abˈʃin.do][1]

Forms

abscindō (present infinitive abscindere, perfect active abscidī, supine abscissum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from ab- “away” and scindō “to cut, tear”.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨scindō⟩ to Proto-Italic *ski-n-d-e/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *ski-n-d- (“to split, tear off”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite Cicero's Verrines, of tearing a tunic from someone's breast.[5][6] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant to tear off clothing or hair, as in Cicero and Propertius; to break or cut off; of places to separate, cut off, divide, as in Ovid; and to cut short speech, as in Valerius Flaccus.[2][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to tear away, cut off.[8] English abscind (1650s) is from it, and its participle abscissa (linea) “a line cut off” gave the mathematical English abscissa (1798).[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[5][7]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it.[2][7]
  • 1798 – English abscissa is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tear off; to cut off.[2]
  2. To separate, divide.[2]
  3. To cut short.[2]

Word family

  • abscissiō
  • abscissus
  • circumscindō
  • cōnscindō
  • dēscindō
  • dīscindō
  • exscindō
  • interscindō
  • perscindō
  • praescindō
  • prōscindō
  • rescindō
  • scindō
  • English abscind
  • English abscissa

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson