concinnus

Forms

concinnus (feminine concinna, neuter concinnum, comparative concinnior, adverb concinnē); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3][4] The OLD suggests it may be a back-formation from concinnō (“to put in order, make ready”);^[2] Leumann thought it was formed back from the participle ⟨concinnātus⟩.^[4] Nonius derived it from cinnus (“a mixed drink”), as Walde and Hofmann did, but de Vaan objects that this word is rare and late.^[4][3] De Vaan himself finds a connection with caedō (“to strike”) quite possible, from Proto-Italic *kom-kid-no- “struck, arranged”.^[4] Haug proposed instead a root Proto-Indo-European *ḱeid- (“to set in motion”), a variant of Proto-Indo-European *ḱeih₂- (“to start to move”), which de Vaan calls attractive in form.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Plautus,^[4][5] who has age age, ut tibi maxumē concinnumst, “go on, just as it best suits you”,^[2][6] and says of a girl sat edepol concinnast faciē, “she is pretty enough in the face”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus it means pleasing, suitable or pretty.^[2][7] In Classical Latin it is something neatly put together or well arranged, such as plasterwork in a letter of Cicero,^[2][3] and above all a word of style: the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero use it of elegant, well-balanced phrasing and sentences,^[2][3] and Cicero also applies it to speakers and writers, as when he calls the philosopher Aristo concinnus et elegāns.^[3][6] Pliny the Elder uses it of a painter's pleasing manner.^[3][6] With a dative it means suited to or accommodating towards someone, as in Lucretius and in Horace's concinnus amīcīs.^[3][7] Horace also calls the island of Samos concinna, “pretty”.^[3][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of what is pleasing and of a pretty girl.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius has the comparative with a dative.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it often of elegant style.^[3][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of verses, conversation and Samos.^[3][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a painter.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Set in order, neatly arranged or made, well blended.^[2][3]
2. Of style, neat, elegant, polished; of speakers, writers and artists, elegant, pleasing in manner.^[2][3][6]
3. Pleasing, agreeable;^[2][6] concinnum est, it suits, it is convenient.^[2][6]
4. Of persons, pretty; of places and things, attractive.^[2][3]
5. With a dative, suited to, accommodating towards.^[3][6][7]

Word family

• concinnitās
• concinnitūdō
• disconcinnus
• inconcinnus

Related words

• caedō
• cieō
• concinnō
• cinnus

Usage notes

The adverb is concinnē, used by Plautus and Cicero;^[3] Gellius has concinniter.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier