condescendo

Forms

condēscendō (present infinitive condēscendere, perfect active condēscendī, supine condēscēnsum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin con- + dēscendō (“to come down”) in Late Latin,^[1] modelled on a Greek verb.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears first in Christian writers: Hilary of Poitiers sets it against conresurgere, rising again together.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its main Late Latin sense was “to come down to another's level, condescend”: Ambrose writes of stooping to the ignorance of those who do not understand,^[2][4] and Isidore of Seville that a ruler should help by condescending, not oppress by dominating.^[2] With a dative it meant “to help, give way to”: Cassian speaks of making allowance for the weakness of the young.^[2][5]

Medieval Latin added the literal “to come down, descend”, “to descend from” an ancestor, and “to yield, consent, agree”;^[6][7] in Bohemian documents an inheritance could pass (condescendere) to an heir.^[8] English took condescend from Old French and directly from Late Latin in the 14th century.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers uses it.^[2][3]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it of stooping to others' ignorance.^[2][3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it of a ruler who helps by condescending.^[2][3]
• mid-14th century – English borrows condescend.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Late Latin) To come down to another's level, condescend, stoop.^[2][5][4]
2. (Late Latin, with dative) To help; to give way to, indulge.^[2][10]
3. (Medieval Latin) To come down, descend; to descend from (an ancestor).^[6][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) To yield, consent, agree.^[7][8]
5. (Medieval Latin) (of an inheritance) To pass to someone.^[8]

Word family

• condēscēnsiō

Related words

• English condescend

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
8. ^ a b c Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn