Etymologically
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cohonesto

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ko.(ɦ)ɔˈnɛs.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ko.oˈnɛs.to][1]

Forms

cohonestō (present infinitive cohonestāre, perfect active cohonestāvī, supine cohonestātum); first conjugation[1] A contracted ⟨cōnestat⟩ appears in a line of Accius, in a conjectural text.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + honestō (“to honour”).[2][1][4] De Vaan lists ⟨co(ho)nestāre⟩ among the derivatives of honōs (“honour”), whose ⟨hon-⟩ can hardly go back to anything but Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰon- or Proto-Indo-European *gʰon-; no further etymology is known.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Accius,[5] in whose line pro se quisque cum corona clarum conestat caput each man graces his famous head with a garland.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is “to do honour to”: in Cicero friends gather to honour a funeral with their presence,[2][3] Livy writes of a plan for using and honouring a victory, and has men urged to honour with courage the death that fortune has left them,[2][6] and Tacitus of a funeral graced with a eulogy from the rostra.[2][6] An inscription speaks of honouring the memory of a girl.[2]

It also meant “to make respectable, give credit to”: Cicero accuses an opponent of trying to dignify his statues with the authority of others, and Seneca asks why a person should not rather lessen the thing than the thing lend dignity to the person.[2][7] Pliny the Elder uses it of hair that has fallen out being restored by a plaster of seed.[2][6][7] Arnobius uses it ironically, and of glossing over shameful acts with words.[6][3] It survives in Spanish cohonestar and Catalan cohonestar.[1]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses the contracted ⟨cōnestat⟩.[6][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of honouring a funeral.[2][8]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of honouring a victory.[2][8]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of restoring fallen hair.[2][8]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus writes of a funeral graced with a eulogy.[2][8]
  • 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of glossing over shameful acts.[6][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To honour, pay respect to, grace.[2][6][3]
  2. To make respectable or honourable, lend dignity to; of fallen hair, to restore.[2][7]
  3. (Late Latin) To gloss over (shameful acts).[6][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b 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 e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de