Etymologically
Log in

collido

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word collido

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
96–55 BC, Lucretius
Ultimate origin
Latin (laedō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin laedo
Latin collido
Latin elido
Latin illido

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔlˈliː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kolˈliː.do][1]

Forms

collīdō (present infinitive collīdere, perfect active collīsī, supine collīsum); third conjugation[1] Manuscripts often spell it conl-.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + laedō (“to hurt, strike”), with the vowel weakened in the compound.[4][2][1][5] De Vaan finds no certain cognates for laedō;[6] Etymonline calls it of unknown origin.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short's first citations are Lucretius and Cicero's De natura deorum, of moisture that is easily pressed and squeezed together.[3]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it rare and mostly post-Augustan, most frequent in Quintilian.[3] It means to batter or crush: Cicero speaks of silver vessels crushed out of shape, and Celsus of something ruptured and crushed inside the body.[4] It also means to dash together: Sallust has waves dashed together that seem to bark, and Seneca tells someone to strike their hands together.[4] Quintilian uses collīdere manūs for clapping, and the passive of the teeth chattering.[3][4] Figuratively it means to bring into conflict: Horace speaks of Greece embroiled with the barbarians in a long war,[4] and Quintilian uses it of consonants that clash.[4] Stelten gives "strike together, bruise, crush" for Church Latin.[7]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius.[3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of crushed silver vessels.[4]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of waves dashed together.[4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of Greece embroiled with the barbarians.[4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of clapping and clashing consonants.[3][4]
  • 1620s – collide appears in English.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To batter, crush, deform.[4][7]
  2. To dash or strike together;[4][3][1] (of the hands) to clap;[4][3][1] (passive, of teeth) to chatter.[4][3][1]
  3. (figurative) To bring into conflict;[4][1] (passive) to be at variance;[4][1] (of letters) to clash.[4][1]

Word family

  • collīsiō
  • collīsus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Collido.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/collido. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·