alucinor

Forms

ālūcinor (present infinitive ālūcinārī, perfect active ālūcinātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2] It is perhaps from Ancient Greek ἀλύω (alúō, “to be distraught, wander in mind”), with the ending of verbs such as vāticinor.^[3][1][2] L&S and Georges also connect it with the Greek verb,^[4][5] and the TLL reports that Cloatius Verus already took it from Greek, which it finds not unlikely.^[2] The older spelling is hālūcinor.^[2][3] It is the source of English hallucinate.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first;^[4] in the De natura deorum he speaks of the doctrines Epicurus “dreamed up” while yawning (oscitans alucinatus est).^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

It meant to let the mind wander, to talk idly or ramble: Cicero suspects someone of wandering in his talk as usual, and says that letters should sometimes ramble.^[4][5] Gellius uses it of a wandering mind, and Columella of a dreaming herdsman.^[4][5] Apuleius uses it of a mime's antics on the stage.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of Epicurus' wandering thoughts and of rambling letters.^[4][3][8]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a dreaming herdsman.^[5][8]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a wandering mind.^[4][5][8]
• 1650s – English borrows hallucinate from its participle.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wander in mind, to ramble, to talk idly, to dream.^[3][4]
2. With an object, to utter with a wandering mind.^[3][7]
3. To play the fool, make grimaces.^[5]

Word family

• ālūcinātiō
• alucinator

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de