anxie

Forms

anxiē (comparative anxius, superlative anxissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin anxius (“anxious, worried”) + -ē, an adverb formed from the adjective.^[2][3][4] The adjective comes from angō (“to squeeze, distress”),^[5][6] which goes back to Proto-Italic *ange/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂emǵʰ-e/o- (“to tie, tighten”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sallust's Jugurtha has it in the sense “with chagrin”: a commander, the historian says, would not have taken the loss of his province so badly if it had gone to anyone other than Marius.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Seneca the Younger, Pliny the Elder and Gellius it means “anxiously, with excessive care”, of meticulous writing, inquiry or self-presentation;^[2][7] Apuleius uses it of describing things one by one in detail.^[8] Gellius also uses it of an obscure text that is not troublesome to understand.^[2] Gargilius Martialis has the comparative anxius.^[3][7]

The word stayed in use in medieval Latin: Peter of Blois and Gerald of Wales use it of anxious brooding,^[9] and Hungarian charters of 1361 and 1483 of eager watching and waiting.^[10]

Timeline

• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of bearing a loss with chagrin.^[2][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca the Younger uses it of anxious self-presentation.^[7][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of anxious inquiry into omens.^[2][11][6]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of an obscurity that is not troublesome.^[2][6]
• 1361 – A Hungarian charter uses it of keeping anxious watch over churches.^[10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Anxiously, over-carefully, meticulously.^[2][8]
2. With distress or chagrin.^[2][7]
3. Troublesomely.^[2]

Related words

• angor
• anxietas

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
11. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften