Etymologically
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demolior

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈmoː.li.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈmɔː.li.or][1]

Forms

dēmōlior (present infinitive dēmōlīrī, perfect active dēmōlītus sum); fourth conjugation, deponent[1] An active dēmōliō is also found, and an inscription spells it dim-.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + mōlior (“to exert oneself, set in motion”).[2][1][3] De Vaan derives mōlior from the family of mōlēs, going back to Proto-Italic *mōl-i-je- (“to labour”).[4] The grammarian Nonius already connected it with ⟨mōlēs⟩ “masses”, explaining it as to destroy.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first quotation is Naevius' active “pull these down!”;[2] Plautus uses it once figuratively, of throwing the blame off himself.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short note that it is far more often used of buildings, to throw down, pull down, demolish.[5] It is also to abolish or do away with, as Livy's suppression of the Bacchanalia.[2] Church Latin glosses it to consume, demolish, destroy, remove.[6] English demolish dates from the 1560s, through French démolir.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius, pull these down.[2][8]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, to throw off blame.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of suppressing the Bacchanalia.[2]
  • 1560s – English demolish, through French.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To throw off, remove.[2][5]
  2. To pull down, demolish, tear down.[2][5][1][6]
  3. To abolish, do away with.[2]

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes dēstruere, to pull down something artificially built, from dēmōlīrī, to pull down a solid building.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c 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 d e 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper