Etymologically
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anhelus

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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

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