confestim

Pronunciation

• Classical: [kõːˈfɛs.tĩː]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [koɱˈfɛs.tim]^[1]

Forms

cōnfestim (adverb, not comparable)^[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from con-, a noun ⟨*festi-⟩ “haste” and the adverbial ending -im, with the root of festīnō (“to hurry”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan notes that this adverb points to an earlier noun ⟨*festi-⟩, which Schrijver traces to Proto-Italic *fristi- (“haste”) and Proto-Indo-European *bhristi-, cognate with Welsh brys (“haste”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Naevius.^[3][4] In Plautus' Trinummus a man is told to go to the treasure at once and secretly.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It means “immediately, forthwith, without delay”, in prose and poetry.^[2][5][1]

Church Latin glosses it “immediately, at once”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius.^[3][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of going to the treasure at once.^[5][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Immediately, forthwith, without delay.^[2][5][1][6]

Related words

• festīnō
• festīnātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson