canesco

Forms

cānēscō (present infinitive cānēscere, perfect active cānuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cāneō (“to be white, grey”) + -ēscō,^[2][1] and the TLL derives it straight from cānus (“grey, hoary”), the base of that verb.^[3][1] The adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *kasno- (“grey”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₁s-no- (“grey”), and is cognate with Old High German hasan (“grey, shining”) and Old English hasu (“grey-brown”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Scaevola and Cicero on.^[3] In the De legibus Cicero says that an oak will grow grey for countless ages (cānēscet saeclīs innumerābilibus).^[5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also uses it of his own oratory growing grey with age.^[2][5][6] Ovid writes of pastures whitening in the sun's heat, of seas whitening under oars, of roofs grey with neglect, and of Ceres complaining that Iasion is growing grey.^[3][5][2] Manilius and Lucan use it of foaming water,^[3] Seneca of Mount Ida white with snow,^[3] and Pliny the Elder of hair turning grey and of a flower that soon fades to white.^[3][5] Solinus says that the fires in Minerva's temple never turn grey into ash,^[5][3] and Quintilian and Petronius use it, like Cicero, of style.^[5] Jerome and Sidonius still use it of foaming waves.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an oak growing old and of his oratory growing grey.^[5][2][7]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of pastures, seas and roofs whitening.^[3][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of Mount Ida white with snow.^[3][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of hair and flowers.^[3][7]
• first half of the 3rd century AD – Solinus uses it of fire turning to ash.^[5][7]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of foaming waves.^[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become white, whiten (on the surface).^[2][5][6]
2. To grow grey with age, become hoary.^[2][5]
3. (figurative) To grow old; of style, to grow feeble.^[2][5][6]

Word family

• incānēscō

Related words

• cāneō
• cānus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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 c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de