amolior

Forms

āmōlior (present infinitive āmōlīrī or āmōlīrier, perfect active āmōlītus sum); fourth conjugation, deponent^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ab- + mōlior (“to labour, move with effort”).^[2][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of mōlēs (“mass, heavy burden”), noting that the noun is attested later than the verb and could itself be made from mōlior; he reconstructs Proto-Italic *mōlo- (“labour, effort”) and *mōl-i-je- (“to labour”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan first finds it in Plautus,^[4] where in the Mostellaria a character orders all these things to be cleared away from here (iube haec hinc omnia āmōlīrier).^[5]

Semantic evolution

It means to clear away or remove something, usually with effort; the ancient commentator Donatus says it is used of things removed from the way with great difficulty and labour.^[5][6] With a reflexive pronoun it means to take oneself off, in Plautus, Terence and Pacuvius.^[5][3] Sisenna uses it of clearing every obstacle from the roads, Livy of wiping out a name or all traces of a tyranny, and Tacitus of removing the name and statues of Vitellius.^[5][7] Of people it means to get rid of someone: Petronius of a troublesome guard, Tacitus of a wife, Octavia.^[5][8] Livy also uses it of carrying away the gifts of the gods and the gods themselves to safety.^[5][8] Quintilian and Tacitus use it of refuting a charge or an argument, and Pliny the Elder and Gellius of warding off dangers and evils.^[5] Lewis and Short note that Cicero and Horace never use it.^[6] Tertullian writes that we are told to put away unchastity,^[9] and medieval writers use it of removing something and, without an object, of going away.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of clearing things away and of taking oneself off.^[5][11]
• 120–67 BC – Sisenna uses it of clearing obstacles from the roads.^[5][11]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses it of wiping out traces and removing sacred objects.^[5][11]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of refuting arguments.^[5][11]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of putting away unchastity.^[9][11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To clear away, remove (obstacles, burdens, rubbish), usually with effort.^[5][6]
2. (reflexive) To take oneself off, go away.^[5][3]
3. To wipe out, obliterate (a name, traces).^[5]
4. To get rid of, dispose of (a person); to carry away to safety.^[5][8]
5. To refute, rebut (a charge, an argument); to ward off (dangers, evils).^[5]

Word family

• āmōlītiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b 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 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
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de