Etymologically
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coniectus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔnˈjɛk.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [konˈjɛk.tus][1]

Forms

coniectus m (genitive coniectūs); fourth declension[1] It is also spelled conjectus.[2][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cōniciō (“to throw together”) + -tus.[3][1][4] cōniciō is a compound of con- and iaciō (“to throw”),[5] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *jak-i- (“to throw”) and Proto-Indo-European *(H)ieh₁- (“to throw, let go”).[5] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἵημι (híēmi, “to send, let go, throw”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Lucretius,[6] who uses it most often:[2] he asks how the throwing together of matter founded earth and sky and sea.[3]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[2] It is the action of throwing: Cicero tells how his brother Quintus' house was broken by stones thrown from Cicero's site.[3][4] Tēlī coniectus is the range of a missile, as in Livy's “before they came within range”.[3] Lucretius also uses it of a thrusting, of a throwing together, and concretely of a gathering of elements.[3] Pliny the Elder's coniectus pugnae seems to be the joining of battle.[3] It is also the directing of the gaze or of the mind: Cicero says we show the emotions by the eyes, now by their glance, now by their brightness.[3] In medieval Latin it is a contribution in kind or money levied on a region to keep the king and his agents when they travelled or campaigned.[7]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of the gathering of matter.[3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of stones thrown at a house and of the glance of the eyes.[3][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, tēlī coniectus, range.[3][6]
  • Medieval Latin – A levy for the king's sustenance.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A throw, throwing;[3][2][1] tēlī coniectus, the range of a missile.[3]
  2. A thrusting.[3]
  3. A throwing together;[3][1] concretely, a gathering, heap, crowd.[3][2][1]
  4. The directing of the gaze or of the mind, a glance.[3][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A levy in kind or money for the king's sustenance.[7]

Word family

  • coniectārius

Usage notes

The perfect passive participle of cōniciō has the same spelling, coniectus, -a, -um.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill