anhelus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aˈneː.ɫʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈnɛː.lus]^[1]

Forms

anhēlus (feminine anhēla, neuter anhēlum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *anaslo- (“breath”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-slo- (“a breathing”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe”) of animus.^[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit अनिति (ániti, “breathes”), Old Irish anaid (“stays, waits”) and Tocharian B anāṣṣäṃ (“breathed in”).^[2] The /h/ may be imitative or taken from hālō “to breathe”, and Schrijver explains the lack of syncope by the double consonant closing the second syllable.^[2] The verb anhēlō “to pant” is derived from it, though the OLD takes the adjective from the verb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius, who uses it of panting thirst.^[2][3] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant gasping, panting, out of breath, from exertion, as Virgil's panting horses of the dawn, from heat or thirst, or from emotion.^[3][5] It also meant blowing hot air, steaming, as Silius' globes of flame, and causing breathlessness, as Ovid's breathless running.^[3] Lewis and Short say it is only poetic.^[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant breathless, and also ardently eager.^[7]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of thirst.^[3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of horses.^[3][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of breathless running.^[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Panting, gasping, out of breath.^[3]
2. Steaming, blowing hot air.^[3]
3. Causing breathlessness.^[3]
4. (Medieval Latin) Eager.^[7]

Word family

• anhēlō

Related words

• animus
• hālō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press