abscisus

Forms

abscīsus (feminine abscīsa, neuter abscīsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] The comparative ⟨abscīsior⟩ is used by Valerius Maximus.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin abscīdō (“to cut off”), of which it is the perfect passive participle, used as an adjective.^[2][1][4] De Vaan lists the verb among the compounds of caedō (“to cut, hew”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *kaid-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *keh₂id- (“to cut, hew”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Livy,^[6] who writes that nothing was steep or sheer enough by nature to make access hard for the enemy, and of rocks that are so sheer.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Of places it means “cut off, steep, sheer”: Seneca, Lucan and Statius use it of crags, Curtius of a rock sheer on every side, and Ammianus of the sheer cliffs of Mount Haemus.^[2][7][3]

It was transferred to speech and character: of style it means “cut short, abrupt”: Quintilian asks why some passages are full enough in few words while others in many words are short and abrupt, and Pliny the Younger speaks of a speech clipped and cut short.^[2][7][4] Of manner it means “harsh, curt”: Valerius Maximus says military discipline needs a rough and harsh kind of correction, writes of an abrupt sentence or answer, and calls the justice of Charondas more rigid.^[2][7][3] Seneca says clemency should be neither indiscriminate nor restricted.^[2][7] Köbler records it in several early medieval law codes, among them those of the Alamanni, Bavarians and Lombards.^[6]

Timeline

• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of sheer ground and rocks.^[2][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of restricted clemency.^[2][6]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of short, abrupt passages.^[2][6]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus writes of the sheer cliffs of Mount Haemus.^[7][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Steep, sheer, precipitous.^[2][3]
2. Abrupt, curt, harsh; of style, cut short.^[2][8][4]
3. Restricted.^[2][7]

Related words

• abscīdō

Usage notes

Arnobius uses abscisus as a noun for a eunuch.^[6]

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 l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.