Etymologically
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defenso

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Forms

dēfēnsō (present infinitive dēfēnsāre, perfect active dēfēnsāvī, supine dēfēnsātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is a frequentative verb, from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off, defend”), formed with the suffix -tō.[2][3][4] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of -fendō, an inherited verb kept only in compounds, which he traces to the root Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to hit, strike”).[5] He compares Old Irish gonaid (“wounds, kills”), Hittite kue(n)-zi “to kill” and Sanskrit हन्ति (hánti, “to kill”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Plautus,[5][3] where a character promises “from here I will defend you” (hinc ego vos dēfēnsābō).[2]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare: before the Christian era the TLL finds it only in Plautus, Sallust and Ovid.[3] Its main sense is to protect persons or places with vigour, as when Sallust speaks of those who defended the walls and Ovid of a shield that guards the shoulders.[2][6][7] Statius and Gellius use it in the other direction, of warding off fears or envy.[2][6] The verb went on into Christian and medieval Latin, where the MLW records both senses, keeping away and protecting persons and things.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of defending people.[2][9]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of defending walls.[2][9]
  • 43 BC–AD 18 – Ovid uses it of a shield protecting the shoulders.[2][9]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of warding off fears.[2][9]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of warding off envy.[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To ward off steadily, keep away (fears, envy).[2][10]
  2. To defend vigorously, protect (people, walls).[2][10][7]

Word family

  • defensabilis
  • defensator
  • dēfēnsātrīx
  • dēfēnsitō

References

  1. ^ 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 c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  10. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press