Etymologically
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consolido

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kõːˈsɔ.lɪ.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [konˈsɔː.li.do][1]

Forms

cōnsolidō (present infinitive cōnsolidāre, perfect active cōnsolidāvī, supine cōnsolidātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + solidō (“to make solid”).[2][1] The TLL derives it from solidō or directly from the adjective solidus (“solid”),[3] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *soliþo- and Proto-Indo-European *solh2-i-dhh1-o- (“entire”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius is the first to use it, of the Greeks who build walls into one continuous, solid thickness.[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

L&S notes that it does not appear before the Augustan age.[5] Besides the literal sense of making something firm or thick, it became a legal term: the jurists use it of a usufruct that is merged with the ownership of the property, as in Ulpian.[2][5][7]

In Christian Latin it was used figuratively, “to strengthen”: the Vulgate has it of the weak who were not made strong, and of tent pegs driven in firmly.[8][9] Augustine uses it of temples and stones held together with iron and lead.[5] English took the past participle over in the 16th century as consolidate.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of building walls of one solid thickness.[2][6]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of a usufruct merged with the property.[2][6]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it figuratively, of strengthening the weak.[8][6]
  • 1510s – English borrows the participle as consolidate.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make solid or firm; to condense, make thick.[2][5][3]
  2. (law) To merge a usufruct into the property it belongs to; to consolidate.[2][5][7]
  3. (Late Latin) To strengthen, make firm.[8][7][9]

Word family

  • persolidō
  • solidō
  • English consolidate

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com