Etymologically
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delibo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈliː.boː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈliː.bo][1]

Forms

dēlībō (present infinitive dēlībāre, perfect active dēlībāvī, supine dēlībātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- (“from, off”) + lībō (“to take a little; to pour as an offering”).[2][3][1] De Vaan follows Steinbauer in taking lībō as made from lībum (“sacrificial cake”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *leifo- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂le/oibʰ-o-, cognate with Ancient Greek ἀλείφω (aleíphō, “to anoint”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Ennius,[3] whose Annals call a man flōs dēlībātus populī, “the choice flower of the people”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is to take off a small part: Cicero says our souls are drawn from the universal divine mind, and Paulus' Festus uses it of drawing off water.[2][3] It then means to take a little from something, so diminishing it: Lucretius says nothing lessens the mind's peace, and Favorinus in Gellius speaks of people who have their dinners merely sampled so as not to tire themselves by eating.[2][5] Mela uses it of offering a small part to the gods.[2] Livy has it of having a first taste of a new honour, and Pliny the Younger of touching on part of a task.[2] Stelten gives “pluck, gather, take away a little, sacrifice”.[6]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius, of the choice flower of the people.[2][3][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of lessening the mind's peace.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of souls drawn from the divine mind.[2][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of a first taste of an honour.[2][7]
  • 43/44 AD – Mela, of an offering to the gods.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To take off a small part, skim off; to draw off (water).[2][5][1]
  2. To pick out as the choicest part.[2]
  3. To take a little from, diminish, wear away; to taste (food).[2][5][1]
  4. To offer a small part to the gods.[2][6]
  5. To detract from, impair.[2]
  6. To have a first taste of; to touch on (a subject); to do part of (a task).[2]

Word family

  • dēlībāmentum
  • dēlībātiō
  • indēlībātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d 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 c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de