Etymologically
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dissolutus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɪs.sɔˈɫuː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [dis.soˈluː.tus][1]

Forms

dissolūtus (feminine dissolūta, neuter dissolūtum, superlative dissolūtissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect passive participle from Latin dissolvō (“to loosen, dissolve”).[2][1][3] dissolvō is a compound of solvō (“to loosen”), which de Vaan explains as *se- "away" and luō (“to loosen”); he traces luō to Proto-Indo-European *l(é)uH- (“to cut loose”), comparing Ancient Greek λύω (lúō, “to loosen, liberate”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus.[5]

Semantic evolution

It means loose, not firmly fixed: Vitruvius says that reticulate masonry has its beds and joints loose in every direction.[2] Of speech it is loosely put together or disjointed: Cicero wants a style neither disjointed nor wholly rhythmical.[2] Most often it is morally lax, easy-going, weak or dissolute, as Cicero's generous, easy-going man overflowing with kindness, and of behaviour careless, as the dissolute negligence in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.[2] Church Latin glosses it feeble, loose.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of disjointed style and of an easy-going man.[2][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of loose masonry joints.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Loose, not firmly fixed.[2][6][1]
  2. Of words, loosely put together, disjointed.[2]
  3. Lax, negligent, easy-going, weak; dissolute.[2][1]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson