Etymologically
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confugio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kõːˈfʊ.ɡi.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [koɱˈfuː.d͡ʒi.o][1]

Forms

cōnfugiō (present infinitive cōnfugere, perfect active cōnfūgī, supine cōnfugitum); third (-iō variant) conjugation, impersonal in the passive[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin con- + fugiō (“to flee”).[2][1] De Vaan traces fugiō to Proto-Italic *fugi- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰug-i- (“to flee”), cognate with Ancient Greek φεύγω (pheúgō, “to flee”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Mostellaria: quid cōnfūgistī in āram?, “why have you fled to the altar?”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to flee somewhere for safety, as to an altar, and to flee to a person or god for protection, as Cicero's provincials who had not even gods to flee to.[2] From this it is to appeal to someone in difficulty, and to take refuge in an expedient or excuse: in the Rhetorica ad Herennium an accused man will fall back on ignorance.[2] With an accusative and infinitive it is to fall back on saying something (Cicero).[2] Terence has a woman flee to someone's house at nightfall.[4]

Church Latin glosses it “flee, take refuge”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of fleeing to an altar.[2][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of fleeing to a house.[4][6]
  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium of falling back on an excuse.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of fleeing to the gods.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To flee (to) for safety, take refuge.[2][1][5]
  2. To appeal (to someone) for help.[2][1]
  3. To have recourse (to), fall back (on).[2][1]

Word family

  • cōnfuga
  • confugēla
  • cōnfugium

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de