defigo

Forms

dēfīgō (present infinitive dēfīgere, perfect active dēfīxī, supine dēfīxum); third conjugation^[1] Varro has a participle dēfictus, and an inscription dēfixsus.^[2] Curse tablets spell it dēficō.^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from dē- (“down”) and fīgō (“to fix, fasten”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan derives ⟨fīgō⟩ from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ-e/o- (“to stick, fix”) or ⟨*dʰiHgʷ-e/o-⟩, cognate with Lithuanian díegti (“to plant, sting”); the old form ⟨fīvere⟩ in Festus keeps the regular Latin outcome of ⟨*gʷ⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato tells the farmer to fix the middle of the vines in the ground with ties, in the De agri cultura.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to fix by driving down, to plant or embed, as in Cato, and to sink a weapon in someone, as the sword thrust into a man's side as he began to speak, in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[2][5][1] Figuratively it is to impress something on the mind, as Cicero's “I will fix his crimes in the eyes of all”.^[2] It is to attach or fasten, and in augury to declare or fix with authority, as in Cicero's De legibus.^[2][1]

It is to keep the eyes or thoughts fixed on something, as Cicero's wish to focus all cares on the safety of the state, and to fix someone with a glance, as in Statius.^[2][1] Of feelings and events it is to stun or dumbfound, as Livy's sad silence that “numbed everyone's minds”.^[2][1] It is also to bind with a spell or bewitch, as in the Ciris.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “fix, fashion, define”.^[6]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato of planting vines.^[2][7]
• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium of a sword thrust in.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of fixing thoughts and of augural rulings.^[2][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of minds numbed by grief.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fix (in the ground), plant, embed; to thrust in (a weapon); to impress (on the mind).^[2][5][1][6]
2. To attach, fasten;^[2][1][6] (augury) to declare, fix.^[2][1][6]
3. To fix, focus (the eyes, thoughts); to fix with a glance.^[2][1]
4. To stun, dumbfound, petrify.^[2][1]
5. To bind with a spell, bewitch.^[2][1]

Related words

• fīgō
• affīgō
• īnfīgō
• dēfīxiō
• fībula

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d 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