denudo

Forms

dēnūdō (present infinitive dēnūdāre, perfect active dēnūdāvī, supine dēnūdātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + nūdō (“to strip, lay bare”).^[2][3][4] The simple verb is formed from nūdus (“naked”), which de Vaan traces through Proto-Italic *nowo/eþo- (“naked”) to a root adjective Proto-Indo-European *nogʷs (“naked”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in a tragedy of Pacuvius, where bones are laid bare.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense “strip, uncover” is found in Cicero and Suetonius, and the Vulgate uses it of uncovering the body.^[7][8] Figuratively it meant to strip a person of property, as in a letter of Lentulus about Roman citizens cruelly robbed,^[2][7] and, with the ablative, to deprive of something, as in Cicero's De oratore.^[9][10] Seneca uses it of leaving a person unprotected: skill guards gladiators, anger exposes them.^[2][10] It also meant to reveal or disclose: Varro speaks of a man who lays bare his own ignorance, and Livy of disclosing a plan.^[2][7][9] Vegetius uses it of leaving a position stripped of troops.^[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it kept the senses “lay bare, strip, uncover”.^[11] English took it over in the early 15th century as denude.^[12]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius speaks of bones laid bare.^[2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of revealing one's ignorance.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of stripping and depriving.^[7][9][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of disclosing a plan.^[9][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of leaving a person unprotected.^[2][6]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as denude.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lay bare, uncover, strip, denude.^[2][8][11]
2. To rob, despoil; with the ablative, to deprive of.^[2][7][9]
3. To expose, leave unprotected; of a position, to strip of troops.^[2][7]
4. To disclose, reveal.^[2][7]

Word family

• dēnūdātiō
• dēnūdātor

Related words

• English denude

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com