Etymologically
Log in

denseo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 08:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdẽː.se.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛn.se.o][1]

Forms

dēnseō (present infinitive dēnsēre); second conjugation, no perfect or supine stems[1] Lucretius has the passive infinitive dēnsērier.[2][3] Charisius gives a perfect dēnsī.[3] Manuscripts often confuse it with dēnsō.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēnsus (“thick”) + -eō.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces dēnsus to Proto-Indo-European *d(ē̆)ns-o- (“thick”) and dates this verb from Lucretius, beside dēnsō, found from Ennius.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius has it first,[4] saying that air can be condensed.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to thicken or condense: Lucretius has heat that weaves clouds over the blue, Virgil darkness thickening with the night, and Ovid a sky made thick by a spell and a comb that closes up a loose weave.[2][5] It is to crowd together: Virgil has columns massed on the plains, Sallust a front strengthened with reserves, and Calpurnius a pine wood thick with foliage.[2][5] It is also to make things come thick and fast: Virgil has spears hurled one after another, Horace the funerals of old and young crowding together, and Tacitus blows struck fast.[2][5] Macrobius has a body made dense by natural cold, and Ammianus a close wall of shields.[5]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of condensing air.[2][4][6]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust, of strengthening a front.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, of darkness and crowded columns.[2][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace, of funerals crowding together.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of rapid blows.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To thicken, condense.[2][5][1]
  2. To crowd or press together.[2][5][1]
  3. To make come thick and fast, multiply.[2][5]

Word family

  • addēnseō
  • condēnseō

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 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. ^ 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de