denumero

Forms

dēnumerō (present infinitive dēnumerāre, perfect active dēnumerāvī, supine dēnumerātum); first conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + numerō (“to count”).^[1][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of numerus (“number”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *nomeso- and, through a thematized s-stem, to Proto-Indo-European *nem-e/os- (“apportioning, sacrifice”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,^[4] in the sense “pay out (money) in full”, in the Asinaria, the Mostellaria, the Miles gloriosus and the Rudens.^[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

A treatise on the date of Easter attributed to Cyprian uses it of counting up all one's home-born slaves (denumerans omnes vernas suos).^[5][2] Greek–Latin glossaries render it with verbs for counting, such as Ancient Greek ἀπαριθμῶ (aparithméō).^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of paying money in full.^[4][5][8]
• 5th century AD (?) – A treatise attributed to Cyprian uses it of counting slaves.^[5][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pay (money) in full, pay out.^[1][5][6]
2. (Late Latin) To count up, enumerate.^[5][2]

Word family

• dēnumerātiō

Usage notes

The TLL files it under dīnumerō.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften