admordeo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [adˈmɔr.de.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [adˈmɔr.de.o]^[1]

Forms

admordeō (present infinitive admordēre, perfect active admomordī, supine admorsum); second conjugation^[1] Plautus has the perfect admemordī.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- (“at”) + mordeō (“to bite”).^[3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨mordeō⟩ to Proto-Italic *mord-eje-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mord-eye- (“to crush, bite”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of fleecing someone.^[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to bite at, gnaw, bite into, as in Propertius and Silius, and in Plautus' comic language to extract money from, fleece.^[3][2] It survives in Old French amordre.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of fleecing.^[3][5]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of biting.^[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bite at, gnaw.^[3]
2. To extract money from, fleece.^[3]

Word family

• admorsus

Related words

• commordeō
• dēmordeō
• immordeō
• mordeō
• obmordeō
• praemordeō
• remordeō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ 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 c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de