deliratio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [deː.liːˈraː.ti.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [de.liˈrat.t͡si.o]^[1]

Forms

dēlīrātiō f (genitive dēlīrātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēlīrō (“to go out of the furrow; to be crazy”) + -tiō, from dē- and līra “furrow”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨līra⟩ as Proto-Italic *loisā-, Proto-Indo-European *loysh₂- (“furrow, track”), cognate with Old Church Slavonic лѣха (lěxa, “field bed, furrow”) and Old High German leisa (“track”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^[5] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense, the act of going off the ridges between furrows in harrowing, is in Pliny; figuratively it meant derangement, delirium, madness, folly, silliness, and dotage, as in Cicero.^[2][3]

British Medieval Latin used it for erratic behaviour, folly.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of folly.^[5][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it of harrowing off the furrow.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Going off the furrow (in harrowing).^[2]
2. Delirium, madness; folly, dotage.^[2][3]

Related words

• dēlīrō
• dēlīrus
• līra
• English delirium

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ 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