Etymologically
Log in

defrico

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word defrico

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin fricō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin frico
Italian fregare
Latin defrico
From the same root
Latin perfrico ← frico
Latin refrico ← frico

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdeː.frɪ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.fri.ko][1]

Forms

dēfricō (present infinitive dēfricāre, perfect active dēfricuī, supine dēfrictum or dēfricātum); first conjugation[1] The perfect participle is both dēfricātus and dēfrictus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + fricō (“to rub”).[4][3][5] That verb, de Vaan suggests, presupposes an adjective in Proto-Italic *fri-k-, probably built to the base of friō (“to crumble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰriH-o- (“cut”).[6] De Vaan also lists the adverb dēfricātē (“sharply”) from Naevius.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges cites Cato for scouring a jar.[7] Naevius has the adverb defricate, “with biting wit”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is to rub something thoroughly, often with an ointment or the like, and Lewis and Short note that it is mostly technical and absent from Cicero and Caesar.[4][2] Catullus and Ovid have it of rubbing the teeth, Celsus of rubbing a pimple with saliva, Columella of wounds and of scouring wine jars, and Pliny the Elder of rubbing skin eruptions with pumice.[2][7] It is also rubbing down a person or an animal: Seneca has a horse rubbed down, and the Rhetorica ad Herennium has a man who begins to be rubbed down at the baths.[4][2]

Horace uses it figuratively, of rubbing the city with much salt, that is, lashing it with wit.[2][7][8] The Vulgate has a bronze vessel scoured in Leviticus.[2][7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of scouring a jar.[7][9]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of rubbing the teeth.[2][9]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it figuratively of satire.[2][9]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of scouring wine jars.[4][9]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of scouring a bronze vessel.[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rub thoroughly; to rub (with an ointment).[4][2]
  2. To rub down (a person, an animal); (passive) to be rubbed down, as at the baths.[4][2]
  3. To scour (a vessel).[4][2]
  4. (figurative) To lash with wit.[2][7]

Word family

  • dēfricātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Defrico.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/defrico. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·