Etymologically
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desuesco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deː.suˈeːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [de.s̬uˈɛs.ko][1]

Forms

dēsuēscō (present infinitive dēsuēscere); third conjugation, no perfect or supine stems[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + suēscō (“to become accustomed”).[2][1][3] De Vaan derives the simple verb from Proto-Italic *swē(þ)-sk-e/o-, an inchoative built on Proto-Indo-European *sue(h1-)dhh1- (“to make one's own, get accustomed”), and compares Ancient Greek εἴωθα (eíōtha, “to be wont”) and Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos, “custom, usage”).[4] He notes that in Latin the compound verbs are clearly older than the simple one, which is a back-formation from them.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Titinius and Virgil on.[3] In a fragment of Titinius (end of 2nd/beginning of 1st century BC), quoted by Nonius, a speaker says he has broken someone of the habit of going out to dinner.[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

L&S find it mostly in poetry and post-Augustan prose, and not at all in Cicero or Caesar; they compare dēsuēfaciō.[7] Its participle dēsuētus “unaccustomed, out of use” is common: Virgil has arms long unused and hearts grown unaccustomed, Livy a practice long out of use and Samnites unaccustomed to the Roman battle cry, Ovid stars and words that have become unfamiliar.[7][8] Tibullus uses it with an infinitive of a way of life that has given up driving away hunger with acorns, and Quintilian speaks of things that have to be unlearned.[2][5] Silius has the form dissuēscō, with the dative, of a people slowly drifting away from the honour of their fathers.[2][5] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to put aside a custom.[9]

Timeline

  • end of 2nd/beginning of 1st century BC – Titinius uses it transitively, of breaking a habit.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the participle of arms long unused.[7][6]
  • c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus uses it with an infinitive.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses the participle of a practice out of use.[7][6]
  • 25–101 AD – Silius has the form dissuēscō.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To become unaccustomed to, unlearn, give up the habit of.[2][7]
  2. (transitive) To break (someone) of a habit, disaccustom.[2][7]

Word family

  • dēsuēfaciō
  • dēsuēfīō
  • dēsuētūdō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson