Etymologically
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afflictus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [afˈfliːk.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [afˈflik.tus][1]

Forms

afflīctus (feminine afflīcta, neuter afflīctum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect passive participle from Latin afflīgō (“to strike down, damage”).[2][3][4] That verb is a compound of ad- and flīgō (“to strike”),[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *flīg- and to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleiǵ-e/o- (“to hit, crush”) or a similar form, comparing Ancient Greek φλίβω (phlíbō, “to rub, crush”) and Latvian blaîzît (“to squeeze, beat”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[6] who uses it of ruined fortune and friendship, and of a worse condition in the comparative.[4]

Semantic evolution

It describes persons, countries and affairs in a state of ruin, shattered or wretched: Cicero speaks of ruined fortune, Livy of the Roman state in distress, and Tacitus of credit that has collapsed.[2][4] Of the mind it means downcast or despondent: Cicero writes of raising up the downcast and of reviving the dejected spirits of good men, and Virgil has someone dragging out his life downcast in darkness and grief.[4] It also means debased or contemptible, as Cicero's man ruined and abandoned, and in Macrobius of depraved morals.[4] An old inscription spells it afleicta.[2]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of ruined fortune and of the downcast.[4][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a life dragged out in grief.[4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the Roman state in distress.[4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of collapsed credit.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. In a state of ruin, shattered, wretched, distressed.[2][4][1]
  2. Downcast, despondent.[4]
  3. Debased, contemptible.[4]

Usage notes

A separate fourth-declension noun afflīctus means a striking against, a collision: Apuleius says that clouds give off fire by their collision.[2][3][4]

References

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