dilacero

Forms

dīlacerō (present infinitive dīlacerāre, perfect active dīlacerāvī, supine dīlacerātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dis- + lacerō (“to tear”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan takes lacerō as formed from the adjective lacer (“torn, mangled”), though the adjective is recorded later, and traces it to Proto-Italic *lak(V)-ro- (“torn, ragged”) and Proto-Indo-European *lh₂k-(V-)ro-.^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek λακίς (lakís, “rent, tatters”) and λακίζω (lakízō, “to tear”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the TLL record it from Plautus onward,^[4][3] where some editors read dīlacerāvistī in the Captivi and others a form of dēlacerō.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it mostly poetic and post-Augustan.^[5] It means to tear apart a body: Catullus writes dīlaceranda ferīs dabor, “I shall be given to wild beasts to be torn to pieces”,^[5][6] Ovid uses it of dogs tearing their master, and Tacitus of a woman's body torn by torture.^[5] Celsus uses it of lacerating with a point,^[5] and the Vulgate of tearing a lion apart.^[5] Figuratively it is to tear apart a state or a mind: Cicero speaks of seeking a whole year ad dīlacerandam rem pūblicam, Sallust of a commonwealth torn apart, and Tacitus of a mind torn by evil counsels.^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – A possible reading in Plautus.^[3][5][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of tearing apart the state.^[5][7]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of being torn by beasts.^[5][7]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of torture and of a tormented mind.^[5][7]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of tearing a lion apart.^[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tear to pieces, tear apart, mangle.^[2][5][1]
2. (figurative) To tear apart, rend (a state, the mind).^[5][6]

Word family

• dīlacerātiō

Related words

• lacerō
• lacer

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de