conor

Forms

cōnor (present infinitive cōnārī, perfect active cōnātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^[1]

Etymology

De Vaan reconstructs inherited from Proto-Italic *kōnāje/o- (“to attempt”) and tentatively derives it from Proto-Indo-European *ḱōn- (“ascent”);^[2][1] Isebaert reconstructs ⟨*kōn-eh₂ie-⟩, and the LIV reconstructs ⟨*kṓnh₁-ie-⟩, a type of present de Vaan doubts.^[2][1] Cognates may include Welsh digawn (“is able”), Avestan āsənaoiti (“ascends”) and Ancient Greek ἐγκονέω (enkonéō, “to be quick and active”), with Ancient Greek διάκονος (diákonos, “servant”).^[2] The OLD suggests ⟨con-⟩ + ⟨*snā-⟩, comparing Hittite šanḫ- (“to attempt”);^[3] the TLL calls the origin uncertain.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[2] Ennius has deumque dē cōnsiliō hoc itiner crēdō cōnātum, “I believe this journey was undertaken on the gods' advice”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Cōnārī is “to make an effort, exert oneself” (Terence: cōnārī manibus pedibus noctēsque et diēs, “to strain hand and foot, night and day”), and with an object or infinitive “to attempt, try”.^[3][5][1] Used without an object it can mean “to try to go”, “to try to rise” or “to try to speak”.^[3] L&S set it against facere and perficere, doing and finishing.^[5]

Church Latin glosses it “to try, endeavor”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][7]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: hoc itiner … cōnātum.^[3][7]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: cōnārī manibus pedibus.^[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make an effort, exert oneself.^[3][5]
2. To attempt, endeavour, try.^[3][5][1][6]
3. To try to go, rise or speak (without an object).^[3]

Word family

• cōnābilis
• cōnāmen
• cōnātiō
• cōnātum
• cōnātus
• percōnor

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts audēre, which looks at the danger of an enterprise and the courage it needs, with cōnārī, which looks at its importance and the energy put into it.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper