Etymologically
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desudo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈsuː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈs̬uː.do][1]

Forms

dēsūdō (present infinitive dēsūdāre, perfect active dēsūdāvī, supine dēsūdātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + sūdō (“to sweat”).[2][3][1] The TLL compares dēsūdāscō (“to break into a sweat”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Cicero on;[3] in On Old Age he uses it figuratively, of someone toiling and labouring at exercises of the mind.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense, “to sweat freely”, is found in Celsus, of sweating in the bath, and in Statius.[2][4] The figurative “to exert oneself, toil” was the more common, and the word is mostly post-Augustan.[4] Transitive use begins with Palladius.[3]

In Medieval Latin it meant to toil and strive, and more loosely to apply oneself, serve, deserve well or devote oneself.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of mental exertion.[2][4][6]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of sweating in the bath.[2][6]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius has the literal sense.[4][6]
  • end of 4th/beginning of 5th century AD – Palladius uses it transitively.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To sweat or perspire freely.[2][4]
  2. (figurative) To exert oneself, toil, labour.[2][4]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To apply oneself; to serve; to devote oneself.[5]

Word family

  • dēsūdātiō
  • dēsūdascō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de