Etymologically
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degravo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdeː.ɡra.woː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.ɡra.vo][1]

Forms

dēgravō (present infinitive dēgravāre, supine dēgravātum); first conjugation, no perfect stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + gravō (“to weigh down”).[2][1][3] The simple verb is from gravis (“heavy”),[1][4] which goes back to Proto-Italic *gʷra(w)u- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂-u- (“heavy”).[4]

The adjective is cognate with Ancient Greek βαρύς (barús, “heavy”) and Sanskrit गुरु (gurú-, “heavy”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short find it only from the Augustan age.[5] The TLL cites Propertius first: quaecumque meum degravat unda caput, “whatever wave weighs down my head”.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

It is to rest heavily on something or press it down:[2][5] Ovid has Etna weighing down the head of Typhoeus and Polyphemus weighing down the shore with his huge stride, and a vine weighing down an elm.[6][7] Livy uses it for overpowering a wing of an army, and says that tiredness, wounds and fear drag down even good swimmers.[2][5][8]

Figuratively it is to burden or weigh down: Seneca writes that age now weighs down Aufidius Bassus more than he can rise against.[5][7] Phaedrus has men weighed down by their load, and Pliny the Elder parts of a ship weighed down.[7]

Timeline

  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of a wave weighing down the head.[6][9]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of overpowering a wing of an army.[2][9]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of Etna pressing on Typhoeus.[6][9]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of old age weighing a man down.[5][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To press down, weigh down, rest heavily on.[2][5]
  2. To overpower, overwhelm.[2]
  3. (figurative) To burden, drag down.[5][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  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 d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c d e 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de