contero

Forms

conterō (present infinitive conterere, perfect active contrīvī or contriī, supine contrītum); third conjugation^[1] The perfect is contrīvī, with contrieram in Cicero and conteruī in Apuleius.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from con- (“together, thoroughly”) and terō (“to rub”).^[2] De Vaan derives ⟨terō⟩ from Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”), with an old present ⟨*treh₁-i-⟩ behind the ⟨ī⟩ of the perfect ⟨trīvī⟩; cognates are Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō, “to distress, wear out”), Ancient Greek τρίβω (tríbō, “to rub, wear out”) and Russian тереть (terétʹ, “to rub”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest quotations are in Plautus, as a slave's “you have easily worn out three ox-hides on my back”;^[2] Cato uses it of grinding ingredients for a remedy.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is to pound, crush or grind, common in medical language.^[2][3] It is also to wear out or rub away by use, by hyperbole to wear out a prison floor by pacing it, and figuratively to trample on or treat with contempt, as Plautus' “don't trample on us so contemptuously”.^[2] Of people it is to exhaust or weary, as “you wear me out with your talk, woman”.^[2] Above all it is to use up time, effort or resources, often to no profit, as Plautus' “I have wasted the day standing by as a witness”, and to exhaust a topic; the participle contrītus is trite or hackneyed.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “crush, break to pieces, grind, bruise”.^[5] From its participle comes English contrite, first around 1300, after the Late Latin sense “penitent”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a back worn out by beatings and of a wasted day.^[2][7]
• 234–149 BC – Cato of grinding a remedy.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of topics already exhausted.^[2][7]
• c. 1300 – English contrite, from the participle.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pound to pieces, crush, grind, bruise.^[2][3][1][5]
2. To wear out or rub away by use.^[2][1]
3. To trample on, treat with contempt.^[2]
4. To exhaust, weary.^[2]
5. To spend or waste time, effort or resources; to exhaust a topic.^[2][1]

Word family

• contrītiō

Related words

• terō
• atterō
• trītus
• English contrite
• English contrition

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de