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confligo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word confligo

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Lucilius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰleyǵ-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin confligo
Latin conflictus
English conflict

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kõːˈfliː.ɡoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koɱˈfliː.ɡo][1]

Forms

cōnflīgō (present infinitive cōnflīgere, perfect active cōnflīxī, supine cōnflīctum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from con- (“together”) and flīgō “to strike”, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to strike”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation for fighting is Lucilius.[2] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to strike together, collide, and transitively to bring into collision, as Lucretius' seeds and Cicero's confronting of one thing with another.[2][5] It meant to do battle, fight, as in Lucilius, to contend in words, argue, and of principles to conflict, as in Cicero.[2] Döderlein says pugnō and cōnflīgere are fighting in a body, in battle, while dīmicō is single combat.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to strive, conflict.[7] English conflict came from its participle cōnflīctus in the early 15th century, as verb and noun.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of fighting.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of colliding seeds.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of argument.[2][4]
  • early 15th century – English conflict is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To strike together, collide; to bring into collision.[2]
  2. To fight, do battle.[2]
  3. To argue, (of principles) to conflict.[2]

Word family

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 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Confligo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/confligo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·