Etymologically
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adhaereo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [aˈdae̯.re.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈdɛː.re.o][1]

Forms

adhaereō (present infinitive adhaerēre, perfect active adhaesī, supine adhaesum); second conjugation, no passive[1]

Etymology

It is from ad- “to” and haereō “to cling, stick”.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of attaching oneself to a person.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to cling, adhere, as Livy's men clinging to the rocks and Tacitus' ships at anchor, and of iron to a magnet, as in Lucretius, and of atoms to combine.[2][5][6] It meant to be fixed, of names to stick, as in Horace, to cling precariously, and to form a whole with, of body parts and land masses.[2] It meant to be adjacent, to keep close to a place, as in Tacitus, to persist in an occupation, to attach oneself to a person, as in Plautus, and of things to be inherent in.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to cling to, adhere, cleave to.[7] English adhere came in the 1590s from French adhérer or directly from Latin.[8] It survives in Italian aderire and Spanish adherir.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of attaching oneself.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of iron and a magnet.[6][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of clinging to rocks.[2][5][4]
  • 1590s – English adhere is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cling, adhere, stick to.[2]
  2. To be fixed; of names, to stick.[2]
  3. To be joined to.[2]
  4. To adjoin; to keep close.[2]
  5. To persist in.[2]
  6. To attach oneself to.[2]
  7. To be inherent in.[2]

Word family

  • adhaesiō
  • adhaesus
  • adhaerēscō
  • adhaesē

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com