Etymologically
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claudico

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɫau̯.dɪ.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈklaːu̯.di.ko][1]

Forms

claudicō (present infinitive claudicāre, perfect active claudicāvī, supine claudicātum); first conjugation[1] Cicero has the spelling clōdicō.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin claudus (“lame”) + -icō.[3][4][1] De Vaan calls the origin of ⟨claudus⟩ uncertain: many connect it with clāvis “bar” and clāva “club”, as “one who goes with a staff”, but the formation is doubtful.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are Varro, of limping and of being defective.[3] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to be lame, limp, as in Cicero's graviter claudicāre “to limp badly”; in Lucretius to lean to one side; figuratively to be halting or defective, as in Varro and Cicero; and in Columella to fall short in amount.[3][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to limp, be lame.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.[3][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of leaning to one side.[3][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of falling short.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To limp, be lame.[3][8]
  2. To lean to one side.[3]
  3. To falter, be defective.[3]
  4. To fall short.[3]

Word family

  • claudicātiō
  • inclaudicō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson