Etymologically
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areo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈaː.re.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.re.o][1]

Forms

āreō (present infinitive ārēre, perfect active āruī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ās-ē- (“to be dry”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁s-eh₁- (“to be dry”).[2][1] Cognate with Tocharian A asatär (“dries up”).[2] āridus “dry” and ārdeō “to burn” are from it; ārea “open space” may belong here too, as land cleared by burning, but de Vaan thinks this uncertain.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was to be dry or parched, as Ovid's earth, of plants to wither, and of people to suffer from thirst, as Tantalus in the water.[4][5] Cicero does not use it.[6]

Its derivative āridus gave English arid.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][3]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of pasture drying up.[4][3]
  • 1650s – English arid is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be dry, parched.[4][6]
  2. Of plants, to be withered.[4][5]
  3. To suffer from thirst.[4]

Word family

  • ārea
  • ārefaciō
  • ārēscō
  • āridus
  • arificus
  • āritūdō
  • ārēns
  • āriditās
  • āridulus
  • āra
  • assus
  • English arid

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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com