delenimentum

Forms

dēlēnīmentum n (genitive dēlēnīmentī); second declension^[1] Manuscripts often spell it dēlīnīmentum.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēlēniō (“to soothe down, bewitch”) + -mentum.^[4][5] That verb is a compound of lēniō (“to appease, mitigate”), from lēnis (“soft, mild”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *leh₁-n(o/i)- (“lazy, slow”), comparing Lithuanian lė́nas (“lazy”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the comic poet Afranius,^[6][3][7] in the sense of an enticement: si possent homines delenimentis capi, “if men could be caught by blandishments”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Livy and Tacitus use it of blandishments and allurements, Tacitus of the delenimenta vitiorum, the allurements of the vices.^[2][8][5] It also meant a soothing or consolation: Livy speaks of offering a distribution of land as a solace to men’s minds,^[4] and Seneca calls what he prepares for his gout palliatives rather than remedies.^[9][10] Medieval writers used it of a means of appeasement or atonement, of flattery and of enticement,^[11] and in Britain of mollification and blandishment.^[12]

Timeline

• second half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it of blandishments.^[4][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a consolation for the people.^[4][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca speaks of palliatives for his gout.^[9][7]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus speaks of the allurements of the vices.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ingratiating act or quality, a blandishment, enticement.^[4][2]
2. A soothing, mollification, consolation.^[4][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) A means of appeasement or atonement.^[11]

Usage notes

It is mostly used in the plural.^[3] Lewis & Short note that it occurs before the classical period and often from Augustus on, but not in Cicero or Caesar.^[2]

References

1. ^ 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 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. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
11. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
12. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press