dilanio

Forms

dīlaniō (present infinitive dīlaniāre, perfect active dīlaniāvī, supine dīlaniātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dis- + laniō (“to tear, mangle”).^[2][1][3] The verb comes from lanius (“butcher”).^[4] Walde and Hofmann took that family to be Etruscan, which de Vaan finds rash; he prefers a connection with Proto-Indo-European *lem(H)- (“to break”), the butcher being the “breaker” of bones.^[4] Ancient grammarians, as reported in Paulus' epitome of Festus, explained ⟨delaniare⟩ as tearing apart as if pulling wool.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL dates it from Cicero and Lucretius;^[3] in a verse fragment of Cicero the attendant of Jupiter tears the speaker with hooked claws.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It means to tear to pieces: Cicero speaks of Clodius' bloody corpse left to be torn by dogs, and Ovid and Tacitus use it of bodies, limbs and clothing.^[5][3] Lucretius uses it of the soul being torn apart and scattered.^[5][3] From Lactantius on it is used figuratively of tormenting or harassing someone.^[3] Stelten's Ecclesiastical Latin glosses add “slander”.^[6]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the soul torn apart.^[3][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a corpse left to the dogs.^[5][7]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of living limbs and of torn hair.^[3][7]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of bodies and clothing.^[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tear to pieces, rend asunder.^[2][5]
2. (figurative) To torment, harass.^[3]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To slander.^[6]

Usage notes

Medieval British writers also had a noun dilanio “butcher”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g h i j 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 d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press