Etymologically
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adno

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈan.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈad.no][1]

Forms

adnō (present infinitive adnāre, perfect active adnāvī, supine adnātum); first conjugation, no passive[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- (“to, towards”) + nō (“to swim”),[2][1][3] also spelled ⟨ann-⟩.[2][4] nō goes back to Proto-Italic *(s)nāje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to swim, float”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest use in the OLD is in Cicero's De re publica, where goods produced anywhere can be brought by sea to the city.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is “to swim to or towards”: Caesar uses it of soldiers able to swim out to the ships, Livy of men drowning as they swam to the ships, and Gellius of a dolphin that used to swim up to the shore.[2][7] Horace has it in a figurative phrase, “more tunnies will swim up”.[2][7] It is construed with the accusative, the dative or ad.[2][8]

From swimming it passed to sailing, of persons (Virgil, “we few have sailed to your shores”) and of ships (Ovid).[2][4] Tacitus uses it of cavalry swimming beside their horses, and Pliny the Elder of turtles that swim near a people of the coast.[2] Medieval writers still used it of reaching a place by swimming or by boat.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of goods brought to a city by sea.[2][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of soldiers swimming to ships.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of sailing to a shore.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of horsemen swimming alongside their horses.[2][6]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius tells of a dolphin swimming up to the shore.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To swim to or towards; to reach by swimming.[2][4][8]
  2. To sail to or towards (of persons or ships); of goods, to be brought by sea.[2][4]
  3. To swim alongside or near; to frequent the sea near a place.[2][8]

Usage notes

Georges files it under the assimilated spelling annō.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften