Etymologically
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attritus

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attritus1 worn

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [atˈtriː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [atˈtriː.tus][1]

Forms

attrītus (feminine attrīta, neuter attrītum), comparative attrītior; first/second-declension adjective[2]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Latin atterō (“to rub against, wear away”).[2][3] atterō is a compound of ad- and terō (“to rub”),[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh1- (“to rub”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō, “to distress, weaken”) and Lithuanian tìrti (“to investigate”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest quotation is from Cicero's Verrines, of the chin of a statue that is a little more worn than the rest: mentum paulo sit attritius.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is worn down by use, or deliberately rubbed smooth, as a kind of chrysocolla in Pliny the Elder.[2] Martial uses it of a face hardened against shame, brazen,[2] and of oratorical style it is thin or attenuated: in Tacitus' Dialogus Calvus is said to have seemed bloodless and thin to Cicero.[2] In Church Latin it means hard.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a worn statue.[2][6]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial, of a brazen face.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of a thin style.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Worn down by use; rubbed smooth.[2]
  2. Hardened, brazen.[2][5]
  3. Of style: thin, attenuated.[2]

attritus2 rubbing

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [atˈtriː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [atˈtriː.tus][1]

Forms

attrītus m (genitive attrītūs); fourth declension[1] It is also spelled adtrītus.[2][3] The ablative is the usual form.[3]

Etymology

The noun is from Latin atterō (“to rub against”) + -tus.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces terō (“to rub”) to Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh1-.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan.[7] The OLD's earliest quotations are from Seneca, of millstones whose rubbing breaks the grain and of boars' tusks sharpened by friction.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the action of rubbing, friction, or grinding:[2] Pliny the Elder has boars hardening their flanks by rubbing against trees.[7] In medicine it is chafing or abrasion of the skin, as in Seneca's sides ulcerated by chafing, and of plants it is bruising.[2][7]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of millstones grinding grain.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of boars rubbing against trees.[7][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A rubbing, friction; grinding.[2][7][1]
  2. Chafing of the skin, abrasion; of plants, bruising.[2][7][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  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 f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press