Etymologically
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defetiscor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deː.fɛˈtiːs.kɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [de.feˈtis.kor][1]

Forms

dēfetīscor (present infinitive dēfetīscī, perfect active dēfessus sum); third conjugation, deponent[1] Manuscripts sometimes have dēfatīscor.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + fatīscor (“to grow weary”).[3][4] De Vaan thinks the compound came first and fatīscor was built on it; both go back to a noun Proto-Italic *fati- (“exhaustion”).[5] The ⟨e⟩ is irregular, since ⟨*dēfitīscor⟩ would be expected, and was probably taken from dēfessus, where the reduction is regular.[5] Priscian says the oldest writers used ⟨fatīscor⟩ and ⟨fessus⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[5] in whose Epidicus a man says how tired they are of searching.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is to become exhausted in mind or body, to tire or flag; with an infinitive, to tire of doing something: in Terence a man says he will not tire of trying.[3][2] It is also to lose heart: Cicero writes of a senate already weak and worn out, and Virgil of companions who all deserted, exhausted.[3] Lewis & Short note that the finite verb is early and rare, while the participle ⟨dēfessus⟩ is classical and frequent.[2] Church Latin glosses it to become weary or tired out.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of being tired of searching.[3][5][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of not tiring of trying.[3][2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a worn-out senate.[3][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of exhausted companions.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To become exhausted, tire, flag; to grow weary of.[3][2][1][6]
  2. To lose heart, be discouraged.[3]

Word family

  • defetiscentia
  • indēfessus

References

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