dissimulanter

Forms

dissimulanter (comparative dissimulantius, superlative dissimulantissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dissimulāns + -ter, the present participle of dissimulō (“to disguise, conceal”) with an adverbial suffix.^[2][1][3] The verb is ultimately from similis “like”, which goes back to Proto-Italic *semali- (“alike, together”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in Cicero,^[5] who speaks of words put together not openly but covertly.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant in a way that hides one's real purpose or character, dissemblingly or secretly.^[2][6] Livy uses it of keeping a person under watch without his noticing.^[3] With a negative, nōn dissimulanter meant openly, without hiding anything, in Cicero and Suetonius.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it, also in the phrase nōn dissimulanter.^[3][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of watching someone unnoticed.^[3][5]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has nōn dissimulanter, “openly”.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Dissemblingly, so as to hide one's real purpose; secretly, unnoticed.^[2][6][3]
2. nōn (or nē) dissimulanter: openly, without disguise.^[3]

Related words

• dissimulātor
• dissimulātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press