Etymologically
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adiungo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [adˈjʊŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [adˈjuŋ.ɡo][1]

Forms

adiungō (present infinitive adiungere, perfect active adiūnxī, supine adiūnctum); third conjugation[1] It is also written adjungō, Valerius Flaccus has the passive infinitive adiungier.[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ad- (“to”) + iungō (“to join, yoke”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces iungō to Proto-Italic *jung-e/o- and the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *(H)iu-n-g- (“to yoke”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] who has ubi ad labra labella adiungit, “when she puts her lips to his lips”.[2] Ennius has audī atque audītīs hostīmentum adiungitō, “listen, and add a requital to what you hear”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Adiungere is “to join, attach, connect”, of cattle “to yoke, harness”, and of vines “to train” on elms (Virgil: ulmīs adiungere vītēs).[2][5][1] It is “to bring into contact” (Livy of a siege tower moved up to the wall), “to add” ingredients, and to add a person or thing to a group or a further factor to others (Cicero: when you add these kinds of virtue to military ones).[2] It is to bring a character into a dialogue, to apply a skill or the mind (animum adiungere).[2][1] In war and politics it is “to attach” forces, “to win over” to one's side, and uxōrem adiungere “to take a wife”; it is also “to assign, attribute, confer” honour and “to impose” a penalty (Cicero).[2]

Church Latin glosses it “to join, attach, annex, yoke”.[6] English adjoin comes from it through Old French about 1300, and adjunct from its participle in the 1580s.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ad labra labella adiungit.[2][8]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: hostīmentum adiungitō.[2][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil: ulmīs adiungere vītēs.[2][8]
  • c. 1300 – English adjoin.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To join, attach, connect; to yoke, harness.[2][5][1][6]
  2. To bring into contact, put (to).[2]
  3. To add; to include; to combine.[2][1]
  4. To bring in (a character); to apply (the mind).[2][1]
  5. To attach (forces); to win over (to one's side); to take (a wife).[2]
  6. To assign, attribute; to confer; to impose (a penalty).[2]

Word family

  • adiūnctiō
  • adiūnctīvus
  • adiūnctor
  • adiunctum
  • adiūnctus
  • abiungō
  • coniungō
  • dēiungō
  • disiungō
  • iniungō
  • iungō
  • sēiungō
  • subiungō
  • English adjoin
  • English adjunct

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de