consecro

Forms

cōnsecrō (present infinitive cōnsecrāre, perfect active cōnsecrāvī, supine cōnsecrātum); first conjugation^[1] It is also spelled cōnsacrō, as in the Monumentum Ancyranum and in inscriptions.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from con- (“together, thoroughly”) and sacrō (“to make sacred”), from sacer (“sacred”).^[2][4][1] De Vaan derives ⟨sacer⟩, Old Latin ⟨sakros⟩ on the Forum cippus, from Proto-Italic *sakro- (“sacred”) and Proto-Indo-European *sh₂k-ro- (“sacred”), cognate with Umbrian sacru (“holy”) and Oscan σακορο (sakoro, “holy”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest examples in the OLD are an elogium, of a man who dedicated the spolia opīma to Jupiter Feretrius, and Cicero;^[2][6] Köbler gives Cicero.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is to set something aside as sacred to a god, to dedicate, and to make a day a festival, as in Livy.^[2][3] It is to make holy, as Cicero's solemn prayer at elections “hallowed by the consuls' auspices”, and in Mela to hallow by burial, of the Phoenix burying the bones of its former body.^[2] It is to deify or regard as divine, as Cicero's Egyptians who “count beasts among the gods”, and to attribute something to a god.^[2]

It is also to devote to the gods below or lay under a curse, as in a formula of devotion preserved by Macrobius, to devote to a person or cause, as Cicero's country to which “we ought to dedicate all we have”, and to make firm or immortalize a memory.^[2][3] Church Latin glosses it “consecrate, hallow, sanctify”.^[7] English consecrate comes from its past participle, from the late 14th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of hallowing, deifying and dedicating.^[2][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a festival day.^[2][6]
• 43/44 AD – Mela of the Phoenix.^[2][6]
• late 14th century – English consecrate.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To dedicate (to a god), consecrate; to make (a day) a festival.^[2][3][1][7]
2. To make holy, hallow; to hallow by burial.^[2][1][7]
3. To deify; to regard as divine; to ascribe to a god.^[2][1]
4. To devote (to the gods below), lay under a curse.^[2]
5. To devote, dedicate (to a person or cause).^[2][3]
6. To establish firmly; to immortalize.^[2]

Related words

• sacer
• sacrō
• dēdicō
• sanciō
• English consecrate

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes sacrāre and cōnsecrāre, to hallow a thing so that its profane use is withdrawn from men, from dicāre and dēdicāre, to make a thing over to a god as his property.^[9]

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 l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper