configuro

Forms

cōnfigūrō (present infinitive cōnfigūrāre, perfect active cōnfigūrāvī, supine cōnfigūrātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- (“with, together”) + figūrō (“to shape, form”).^[2][1][3] Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan and rare.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Columella, writing on vines: the support shapes the vine after its own likeness.^[4][5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Gellius uses it figuratively: the nature of a mother's milk shapes the young child's character after her body and mind.^[4][5][6] Tertullian has it,^[8] once in the sense “to compare”,^[6] and Lactantius writes of images of the gods fashioned in the dress and age of each, and of man formed out of different things.^[4][8] In the Vulgate it takes a dative in the Letter to the Philippians, of the body made like the glorious body of Christ.^[8][9]

Christian and medieval writers used it above all for conforming the faithful to Christ:^[9][10] the statutes of the Teutonic Order say that continence, renunciation of one's own will and poverty conform a religious to Christ,^[9] and Albertus Magnus says that the grace of baptism conforms us to Christ dying.^[9] It could also be used of the damned made like the devil.^[9] In scholastic philosophy it meant to be like or an image of something,^[9] and Hugh of Honau, about 1180, uses it of actors imitating a person true to life.^[9] English configure goes back to it.^[3]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a vine shaped by its support.^[4][7]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it.^[8][6][7]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a child's character shaped by its mother's milk.^[4][7]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of images of the gods.^[4][8][7]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the body made like Christ's.^[8][7]
• c. 1180 – Hugh of Honau uses it of lifelike acting.^[9]
• late 14th century – English configure is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To mould or shape; to fashion after a model.^{[2][4][5][6][1]}
2. (figurative) To form, shape (character).^[5][6][4]
3. (Late Latin) To compare.^[6]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin, Medieval Latin) To conform, make like (especially to Christ).^{[8][9][10][1]}
5. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) To be like, be an image of.^[9]
6. (Medieval Latin) To create, coin (a word).^[11]

Word family

• cōnfigūrātiō

Related words

• figūra
• English configure

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE