cauterizo

Forms

cautērizō (present infinitive cautērizāre, perfect active cautērizāvī, supine cautērizātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek καυτηριάζω (kautēriázō, “to burn with a branding iron”),^[1][2][3] from καυτήριον (kautḗrion, “branding iron”), from καίω (kaíō, “to burn”).^[1] The TLL takes the Latin form as an adaptation of the Greek verb, and wonders whether ⟨cauteriatas⟩ should be read in the Latin Irenaeus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Late Latin: the veterinary handbook of Chiron (4th century AD) uses it for burning with a hot iron,^[3][4][5] and the Latin translation of Irenaeus speaks of “branded consciences”, cauterizatas conscientias.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Vegetius has it for branding with a hot iron.^[2] In medieval medicine it meant treating with a cautery or a caustic medicine, and it was also used of branding as a punishment;^[6] the spellings cautirizo, cauteriso and cauteridio are recorded.^[6] English took over the verb around 1400 through Old French cauterisier.^[7]

Timeline

• 4th century AD – Chiron's veterinary handbook uses it for burning with a hot iron.^[3][4][5]
• c. 400 AD – Vegetius uses it for branding.^[2][5]
• Middle Ages – Medical writers use it for treatment with a cautery or a caustic.^[6]
• c. 1400 – English borrows it, through Old French, as cauterize.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To burn with a hot iron, to brand.^[2][3]
2. (medicine) To cauterize, to treat with a cautery or a caustic medicine.^[1][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) To brand as a punishment.^[6]

Related words

• English cauterize

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com