Etymologically
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accingo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [akˈkɪŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [atˈt͡ʃiŋ.ɡo][1]

Forms

accingō (present infinitive accingere, perfect active accīnxī, supine accīnctum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + cingō (“to gird”).[2][3] De Vaan finds the origin of ⟨cingō⟩ uncertain: Lithuanian kinkýti (“to harness horses”) fits in meaning but requires a root shape impossible for PIE, and the Umbrian words sometimes compared are themselves obscure.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Terence,[3] whose Phormio has “you must eat it all up: gird yourself!”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal senses are “to gird, surround”, as Varro of Atax says of the five zones round the earth, “to gird with a sword” and “to gird on a sword”, both often in Virgil.[2][4] Figuratively it is to equip with aids or support, as Tacitus with eloquence.[2] Most often it is passive or reflexive, “to gird oneself, get ready” for action, as Virgil's men preparing for their spoil and the coming feast.[2][1] Lewis and Short note that in prose it appears only after the Augustan period, while it is a favourite word of Virgil.[4]

Church Latin glosses it “gird, equip”.[5]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence, “gird yourself”.[2][3][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of girding on a sword.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of being armed with eloquence.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To gird, surround; to gird up.[2][4][1][5]
  2. To gird with a sword; to gird on a sword; to equip.[2][1][5]
  3. (passive or reflexive) To gird oneself, get ready.[2][1]

Word family

  • accinctus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de