Etymologically
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decerpo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈkɛr.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈt͡ʃɛr.po][1]

Forms

dēcerpō (present infinitive dēcerpere, perfect active dēcerpsī, supine dēcerptum); third conjugation[1] Cato and Varro have dēcarp-.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + carpō (“to pluck”), with ⟨a⟩ weakened to ⟨e⟩.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces carpō to Proto-Italic *karp- and Proto-Indo-European *kerp-e/o- (“to pick, pluck”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato, who tells the reader to pluck grapes from the bunches, in the older form ⟨dēcarpō⟩.[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it most frequent in the poets.[5] Lucretius delights in picking new flowers, Catullus has the teeth of spinners snipping off threads, and Calpurnius flocks cropping the grass.[2] Figuratively it is to cull, to catch a scent, to snatch kisses, and to reap advantages.[2] Valerius Maximus uses it of taking away from someone's standing.[2] An Old Latin Bible has the perfect ⟨dēcerpērunt⟩.[3] Church Latin glosses it to pluck, pull away.[6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato of plucking grapes.[2][4][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of picking flowers.[2][7]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of snipping threads.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pluck off, pick; of animals, to crop; to snip off; figuratively, to cull.[2][5][6][1]
  2. To gather the produce of something.[2][1]
  3. To catch with the senses; to snatch kisses; to reap advantages.[2]
  4. To take away, detract.[2]

Word family

  • dēcermina
  • indēcerptus
  • dēcerptor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de