derigesco

Forms

dērigēscō (present infinitive dērigēscere, perfect active dēriguī); third conjugation, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + rigēscō (“to stiffen”);^[2][1][3] manuscripts often have ⟨dīr-⟩.^[2][4] rigēscō is the inchoative of rigeō (“to be stiff”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *Hriǵ-eh₁- (“to be stretched, be stiff”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a poetic word, first found in Virgil,^[6][7] who says of terrified men that the blood froze with fear (formīdine sanguis dēriguit).^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

It occurs almost only in the perfect, of becoming stiff or rigid, usually through fear or a similar shock.^[2][6] Virgil and Ovid use it of eyes that become fixed and of hair standing on end, Ovid of a stiffening neck, and Lucan of hands.^[6][4] In prose the elder Seneca uses it of the mind, and Pacatus' panegyric of stiffening in death.^[4]

Medieval writers applied it to the rigidity of death and of spasms and, figuratively, to being stunned with amazement or horror; they also used it transitively, “to make stiff”.^[9]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of blood freezing with fear.^[6][10]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of hair standing on end.^[6][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become stiff or rigid, to freeze (usually with fear); of eyes, to become fixed; of hair, to stand on end.^[2][6][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) To be stunned with amazement or horror.^[9]
3. (Medieval Latin) To make stiff or rigid.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de