adnitor

Forms

adnītor (present infinitive adnītī, perfect active adnīxus sum or adnīsus sum); third conjugation, deponent^[1] It is also spelled annītor.^[2][1] Servius notes that the participle adnīxus was the old form, replaced in his day by adnīsus.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- (“to, against”) + nītor (“to lean, strive”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of nītor, which he reconstructs as Proto-Italic *kniχw-et-; the verb's first meaning could have been either to lean on or to exert pressure.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is to lean or rest on something, and genibus adnīxus is kneeling: Cicero says that nature always leans on some support.^[2] More often it is to exert oneself or try one's hardest, as in Sallust's “exert yourselves with me and take up the cause of the state”, and to work in support of someone, as Crassus backing Piso in Sallust.^[2] Fronto uses it with an accusative, of striving to win a victory.^[2] Church Latin glosses it to strive.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[4][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of nature leaning on a support.^[2][6]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of exerting oneself for the state.^[2][6]
• 100–170 AD – Fronto of striving for victory.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lean or rest on; genibus adnīxus, kneeling.^[2][1]
2. To exert oneself, strive, try one's hardest; to work in support of someone.^[2][5][1]
3. With an accusative, to strive to obtain.^[2]

Related words

• nītor
• cōnītor
• ēnītor

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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de