Etymologically
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creber

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkreː.bɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkrɛː.ber][1]

Forms

crēber (feminine crēbra, neuter crēbrum, comparative crēbrior, superlative crēberrimus, adverb crēbrē or crēbriter or crēbrō); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)[1]

Etymology

It is probably related to crēscō “to grow”, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁- (“to grow”) with the suffix *-rós, though the ⟨b⟩ is unexplained.[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Cato, of things set close together.[2] Köbler's first source is Plautus.[4] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant set at short intervals, close together, as Lucretius' dense forest and Caesar's trees, of actions frequent, repeated, as in Terence, and numerous in quick succession, as of hail and blows in Cicero.[2][5] It meant numerous, abundant, crowded with something, as in Virgil, dense, and of writers packed with thought, and making frequent use of something, as in Cato.[2] Gellius has the superlative crēbrissimus.[3] Döderlein says saepe means “often” as opposed to once, while crēbrō and frequenter mean in quick succession.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant thick, close, frequent, numerous, abundant.[7] In Medieval Latin it meant numerous, close-set, frequent.[8] Italian crebro is a borrowing.[1]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of closely set things.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of frequent actions.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a dense forest.[5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Close-set, dense.[2]
  2. Frequent, repeated.[2]
  3. Numerous; abundant.[2]
  4. Crowded, packed (with).[2]
  5. Making frequent use (of).[2]

Word family

  • crēbrātus
  • crēbrēscō
  • crēbrinōdus
  • crēbritās
  • crēbritūdō
  • incrēbrō
  • crēbra
  • crēbrē
  • crēbriter
  • crēbrō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press