conforto

Forms

cōnfortō (present infinitive cōnfortāre, perfect active cōnfortāvī, supine cōnfortātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + fortis (“strong”), a Late Latin verb.^[2][3][4][5] Etymonline takes the prefix here to be perhaps intensive, so that the verb meant “to strengthen much”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from the Itala, the Old Latin Bible, onwards.^[2] Among its earliest dated witnesses is the Passio Perpetuae, which prays ut … deus honōrētur et homō cōnfortētur, “that God may be honoured and man strengthened”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense was “to make strong, strengthen”.^[2][3][4] Marius Victorinus explains cōnfortantur as fortēs redduntur, “they are made strong”, and the glossaries equate it with rōborāre.^[2] It was very common in the Bible: the Itala uses it for several Greek verbs, so that in Deuteronomy it renders the hardening of a heart, and Augustine remarks that a heart can be said to be “strengthened” in a bad sense too.^[2] The Vulgate has it often in the Old Testament,^[3][2] as in the exhortation virīliter agite et cōnfortāminī, “act like men and be strong” (Deuteronomy 31:6), and of a morsel of bread that strengthens the heart (Genesis 18:5).^[2] Lactantius uses it of strengthening the hands, and Gargilius of strengthening the stomach.^[4][3] From strengthening the spirit it came to mean “encourage, console”: the Itinerarium Silviae has a bishop addressing the people and encouraging them, and Jerome asks for letters to comfort a woman.^[2][5][8]

Medieval Latin kept all these senses: to strengthen things, to restore the sick, to hearten, and also to maintain a claim.^[9][10] In medicine it meant to invigorate or heal, and Bede uses it of strengthening believers in their faith.^[11] Hungarian sources have a duke encouraging his soldiers,^[12] and Polish ones also use it of providing someone with an armed escort.^[13]

The TLL lists Italian confortare, French conforter and Spanish conhortar among its descendants;^[2] Wiktionary treats the French verb as a borrowing.^[1] English comfort came from Old French conforter “to comfort, solace; to help, strengthen”, first in the late 13th century as conforten “to cheer up, console”.^[6]

Timeline

• beginning of the 3rd century AD – The Passio Perpetuae uses it of God strengthening man.^[2][7]
• after 220 AD – The Itala uses it in many books of the Bible.^[2][7]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of strengthening the hands.^[3][4][7]
• first half of the 4th century AD – Marius Victorinus glosses it as “to be made strong”.^[2][7]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of comforting someone by letter.^[5][8][2][7]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it often in the Old Testament.^[3][2][7]
• early 8th century – Bede uses it of strengthening believers in their faith.^[11][7]
• late 13th century – English conforten, later comfort, is borrowed through Old French.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make strong, strengthen, reinforce.^{[2][3][4][5][9][10]}
2. (passive) To become strong, grow powerful; of the heart, to be hardened.^[2]
3. To encourage, hearten.^{[14][9][12][1]}
4. To console, comfort.^[5][8][11]
5. (Medieval Latin, medicine) To invigorate, restore to health.^[9][10][11]
6. (Medieval Latin) To maintain, uphold (a claim).^[9]
7. (Medieval Latin) To provide with an armed escort.^[13]

Related words

• English comfort

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
13. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
14. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson