decenter

Forms

decenter (comparative decentius, superlative decentissimē, adjective decēns)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin decēns (“fitting, becoming”) + -ter, the adverb of the participle of decet (“it is fitting”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces decet to Proto-Italic *dek-ē- (“it fits, is right”) and Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-eh₁-.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Ovid,^[4] who has it of being gracefully sad and of weeping becomingly.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is in a manner that suits good taste, becomingly, gracefully.^[2] Horace has the comparative of youth, to whom playfulness is more becoming, and Propertius uses it too.^[5][6] Seneca has carving fowls gracefully, Quintilian saying some things more fittingly, and Pliny the Younger contrasts the fitting use of invented names with the apt use of real ones.^[5][7] Georges notes that a passage in Cicero once cited for it is now read differently.^[5]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid, of becoming sadness.^[5][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace, the comparative.^[5][6][4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of carving gracefully.^[5][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In good taste, becomingly, gracefully, decently, properly.^[2][1][5][7]

Related words

• decēns
• decet
• indecenter

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.