Etymologically
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conculco

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 18:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɔŋˈkʊɫ.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koŋˈkul.ko][1]

Forms

conculcō (present infinitive conculcāre, perfect active conculcāvī, supine conculcātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from con- and calcō “to tread”, from calx “heel”.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of trampling.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to tread underfoot, trample, crush by treading, as of grape skins in Cato, and in Varro and Lucretius; and figuratively to crush, oppress, despise, disregard, as in the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero.[2][5][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to tread, trample.[7] English borrowed it as the rare conculcate.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of treading grape skins.[5][6][4]
  • 86/82 BC – the Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it figuratively.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tread underfoot, trample.[2]
  2. (figurative) To crush, oppress; to despise.[2]

Word family

  • conculcātiō
  • conculcatus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson