Etymologically
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clueo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɫu.e.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkluː.e.o][1]

Forms

clueō (present infinitive cluēre); second conjugation, no passive, no perfect or supine stems[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *klu-ē- (“to be known”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”).[2][1] Cognate with South Picene kduíú (“I am called”), Sanskrit श्रुत (śrutá, “heard, famous”), Ancient Greek κλυτός (klutós, “famous”), Old Irish ro·cluinethar (“hears”) and Old Church Slavonic слути (sluti, “to be called”).[2][3][4] Only Latvian also has a stative ē-present, probably formed independently.[2] The adjective inclutus “famous” comes from the participle *klu-to-.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose characters are spoken of as pillars of the senate.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to be spoken of, be known as, with a predicate nominative, as Plautus' priestess who is known as the priestess of the shrine, and ut nōmen cluet “as the name implies”.[3][6] In Lucretius it meant to be reckoned as or said to be, and absolutely to exist.[3] The third-conjugation form cluere is found in Seneca, Accius and late authors.[2][7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[3][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it in the sense “to be reckoned”.[3][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses cluere.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be spoken of, be known (as).[3]
  2. To be reckoned as, said to be; to exist.[3]

Word family

  • laus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 d e f g h 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. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press