Etymologically
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abstinens

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Forms

abstinēns (genitive abstinentis, comparative abstinentior, superlative abstinentissimus); third-declension one-termination adjective[1][2][3]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the present participle from Latin abstineō (“to hold back, abstain”),[1][2][3] which is made from abs- (“away”) and teneō (“to hold”).[4] De Vaan traces that verb to Proto-Italic *t(e)nē- and Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh1- (“to hold”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,[6] who writes praetorem decet non solum manus sed etiam oculos abstinentes habere, “a praetor should keep not only his hands but also his eyes under restraint”.[3]

Semantic evolution

With a genitive or ablative it means showing restraint in respect of something, not covetous of it:[1] Horace has abstinēns pecūniae, “keeping one's hands off money”,[1][3] Pliny the Younger alieni abstinentissimus, “wholly keeping off what belongs to others”,[7][2] and Columella the ablative, of abstaining from sex.[2][3] Used alone it means self-restrained, temperate, above all in money matters, as in Cicero's letters and in the epitome of Livy, where Mummius abstinentissimum virum egit, “behaved as a man of complete integrity”;[1][2] Horace also uses it of chastity.[1] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means temperate, abstinent,[8] and in medieval Latin ascetic.[9] Italian astinente comes from it.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a magistrate's restraint.[3][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace has abstinēns pecūniae.[1][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella has the superlative with an ablative.[2][6]
  • c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius has the comparative abstinentior.[2][6]
  • Medieval Latin – It is used of the ascetic.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (with a genitive or ablative) Showing restraint in respect of, not covetous of.[1][3]
  2. Self-restrained, temperate, above all in money matters; disinterested.[1][2][8]
  3. Chaste, continent.[1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Ascetic.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill