Etymologically
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decenter

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɛˈkɛn.tɛr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈt͡ʃɛn.ter][1]

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]

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.