Etymologically
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amplexor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [amˈpɫɛk.sɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [amˈplɛk.sor][1]

Forms

amplexor (present infinitive amplexārī or amplexārier, perfect active amplexātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1] An active form amplexō is found in Plautus, Accius, Lucilius and Petronius.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a frequentative, from Latin amplector (“to embrace”) + -tō.[3][2] De Vaan explains amplector as plectō (“to plait”) with the prefix ⟨amb-⟩, and traces that verb to Proto-Italic *plekt- and Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-t-e/o- (“to plait, twine”), comparing Ancient Greek πλέκω (plékō, “to braid, twine”) and Old High German flehtan (“to plait”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[4] In the OLD's earliest quotation a character promises to recline beside someone, love them and embrace them.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to hold lovingly in one's arms, embrace, and of a suppliant to clasp someone's feet.[3] Lewis & Short call it rarer than amplector, mostly early, in Cicero and in Church writers.[2] Figuratively it is to accept gladly: Seneca bids someone take a kindness, embrace it and rejoice.[3] It is also to refuse to give up: Seneca writes of a mother who clings to her grief.[3] Cicero uses it of attaching oneself to a cause, of those who wish to embrace pleasure, and of attending to knowledge of the mind.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of embracing someone.[3][4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of embracing pleasure.[3][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of welcoming a kindness and of clinging to grief.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To embrace, clasp; of a suppliant, to clasp someone's feet.[3][2][1]
  2. To accept gladly, welcome.[3]
  3. To cling to, refuse to give up.[3]
  4. To be devoted to, cherish; to concentrate on.[3][1]

References

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