conquiesco

Forms

conquiēscō (present infinitive conquiēscere, perfect active conquiēvī, supine conquiētum); third conjugation, no passive^[1] Cicero has the short perfect conquiesti, Livy and Afranius conquiesse.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + quiēscō (“to rest”).^[3][1][4] De Vaan explains quiēscō as a present built on the perfect ⟨quiēvī⟩, which probably continues a root aorist; the noun quiēs (“rest”) goes back to Proto-Italic *kʷiētis and Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁-ti- (“rest, peace”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The comedian Afranius already has the short perfect form ⟨conquiesse⟩.^[3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short find it in good prose, most of all in Cicero, especially in figurative senses.^[2] It is to take rest, and also to sleep: Caesar has someone who had gone to sleep at midday.^[3] Cicero uses it of the dead who find no rest, of never ceasing from effort, of a pause in speaking and of peace of mind.^[3] Of things it is to settle down or cease: Celsus writes of the pulse becoming calm, Cicero of shipping that comes to a halt.^[3] Church Latin glosses it to rest.^[7]

Timeline

• 2nd half of 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it.^[3][4][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of cattle resting.^[3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the dead, of rest from effort and of peace of mind.^[3][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of sleeping at midday.^[3][6]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus of the pulse settling.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rest, take repose; to go to sleep; of the dead, to rest.^[3][2][7][1]
2. To cease from effort, pause; to pause in speaking.^[3]
3. To have respite from something.^[3]
4. To find peace of mind, relax.^[3]
5. Of things, to settle down; of activities, to come to an end.^[3][1]

Related words

• acquiēscō
• adquiēscō
• interquiēscō
• perquiēscō
• quiēscō
• requiēscō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ 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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson