Etymologically
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detergeo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈtɛr.ɡe.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈtɛr.d͡ʒe.o][1]

Forms

dētergeō (present infinitive dētergēre, perfect active dētersī, supine dētersum); second conjugation, third person-only in the passive[1] A third-conjugation present dētergō also occurs.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- (“off”) + tergeō (“to wipe”).[2][3][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *terg- for tergeō and finds no certain cognates outside Italic; a link with a Sanskrit verb meaning to crush is possible but doubtful.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Livius Andronicus, in his Latin Odyssey: dacrimas dē ōre noegeō dētersit, “wiped the tears from his face with a cloth”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It is wiping away, as tears or sweat,[2][5] and, by extension, wiping something clean, as Plautus has of wiping one's head with a cloak and Livy of cleaning the sewers.[2][5] Horace uses it of a wind that clears the clouds from the sky.[2][5] Caesar and Livy have it of breaking off projecting oars.[2][5] Figuratively it is to remove or cleanse,[5] and Cicero uses it in a letter of sweeping up a sum of money.[5] A third-conjugation present dētergō also occurs, from Plautus onwards.[3] Stelten gives "wipe away, cancel" for Church Latin.[6]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus, of wiping away tears.[3]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of wiping one's head.[5][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar, of breaking off oars.[2][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace, of a wind clearing the sky.[2][7]
  • 1620s – deterge is borrowed into English, through French.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wipe off, wipe away; figuratively, to drive away, remove.[2][5][1]
  2. To strip off, break off (projecting parts).[2][5][1]
  3. To wipe or rub clean, cleanse.[2][5]

Word family

  • detersio
  • dētersus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ 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 g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com