depecto

Forms

dēpectō (present infinitive dēpectere, supine dēpexum); third conjugation, no perfect stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + pectō (“to comb”).^[2][3][4] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of pectō, which he traces to Proto-Italic *petke/o- (“to comb”); he finds attractive Pinault's view that this continues Proto-Indo-European *p(e)tḱ-, a dissimilated reduplicated present *pe-pḱ-, a form that suits the repeated motion of combing.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Terence.^[5] In the Heauton Timorumenos it is used ironically of a beating: adeō exōrnātum dabō, adeō dēpexum, ut dum vīvat meminerit semper meī, “I'll have him so dressed down and so combed out that he'll remember me as long as he lives.”^[2][3] Ancient commentators on the line explain it as “thrashed” or “torn”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In its literal sense it meant to comb hair thoroughly: Ovid speaks of combing the hair with boxwood and of Indians with combed hair, and Seneca of combing a jutting beard.^[2][6] Columella uses it of a lettuce with purple, combed-out leaves.^[2] It also meant to comb something off: Virgil and Pliny the Elder say that the Seres comb fine fleeces from the leaves of trees, and Pliny uses it of what sticks to a tree being combed off with iron.^[2][7] Pliny also speaks of the art of combing out flax.^[2][6] Lewis and Short call it very rare.^[8]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it ironically of a thrashing.^[2][5][9]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the Seres combing fleeces from leaves.^[2][9]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of combing the hair.^[2][9]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of combing a beard.^[2][9]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of lettuce leaves.^[2][9]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of combing flax.^[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To comb thoroughly, comb out or down.^[2][8][6]
2. (ironic) To give a thrashing.^[8][10][7]
3. To comb off, away.^[2][6]
4. To card, hackle (flax).^[2][6]

Related words

• pectō
• pecten

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 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. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.