cunctanter

Forms

cūnctanter (comparative cūnctantius, superlative cūnctantissimē, adjective cūnctāns)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cūnctāns (“delaying, hesitating”) + -ter, from the present participle of cūnctor (“to delay”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces that verb to Proto-Italic *konkito- (“hanging”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱonk-(e)ie- (“to hang”), with cognates such as Hittite kānk- (“to hang, weigh”) and Sanskrit शङ्कते (śáṅkate, “is afraid”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Livy,^[3] who uses it of cattle driven slowly from the ruins of a village, and of a whetstone cut through without hesitation.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It means with delay or hesitation, slowly.^[2][5] Georges distinguishes its use of movement, as in Livy and in Pliny the Younger's panegyric of a hand stretched out slowly and lazily, from its use of action, as in Suetonius, who says that Augustus revealed his horoscope only reluctantly and after hesitation.^[5][6] The TLL finds it often in Tacitus: two men first meet hesitantly and then clasp hands, and Tiberius goes into a house without delay.^[6] Augustine uses it of a promise given hesitantly and with a sort of shame.^[6] Its comparative is cūnctantius.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of cattle driven slowly.^[5][3]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a hesitant meeting.^[6]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of Augustus revealing his horoscope.^[5][6]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine of a hesitant promise.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. With delay or hesitation, hesitantly, slowly, tardily; reluctantly.^[2][5][1]

Related words

• cūnctor
• cūnctātiō
• cūnctātor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften