Etymologically
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corroboro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔrˈroː.bɔ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [korˈrɔː.bo.ro][1]

Forms

corrōborō (present infinitive corrōborāre, perfect active corrōborāvī, supine corrōborātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled conrōborō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + rōborō (“to strengthen”).[2][4][1] The verb comes from rōbur (“oak; strength”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *rouþos (“red substance”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁reudh-os, comparing Ancient Greek ἔρευθος (éreuthos, “redness”): the heart of the oak was apparently called red.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero on, as a word of plain prose;[4] the Rhetorica uses it of a proof that strengthens an argument by several reasons.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to strengthen a person or part of the body:[2][3] Columella says puppies should not be let out until they have grown strong, and Pliny the Elder uses it of strengthening the brain and stomach.[2][3] In war it is to reinforce: Plancus writes of acting before the enemy grow stronger.[2] Reflexively it means to grow up: Cicero speaks of someone who had come to his strength and was a man among men.[2][3] Lewis & Short find it most often in Cicero, who also uses it figuratively of strengthening virtue and talent, and of having strengthened a conspiracy at its birth by refusing to believe in it.[3] Stelten gives "strengthen, back up".[6] English took corroborate from its participle in the 1520s, first of legal confirmation.[7]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium of strengthening an argument.[2][4][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of growing up and of strengthening a conspiracy.[2][3]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of puppies growing strong.[2]
  • 1520s – English corroborate.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To strengthen, invigorate;[2][3][1][6] (military) to reinforce.[2][3][1][6]
  2. (reflexive or passive) To grow strong, reach maturity.[2][3]
  3. (figurative) To fortify, confirm, corroborate (an argument, resolve).[2][3][1]

Word family

  • corrōborāmentum
  • corrōborātiō
  • rōborō
  • rōbur
  • English corroborate

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