Etymologically
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concinnus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔŋˈkɪn.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kon̠ʲˈt͡ʃin.nus][1]

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

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