donicum

Forms

dōnicum (conjunction)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *dō-ne-kʷom, beside *dō-ne-kʷe, the source of dōnec.^[2] The first part is the instrumental *dō (“to this, until”) of the particle Proto-Indo-European *de (“here”), with its variant ⟨*do⟩;^[2][3] the last part is the accusative ⟨*kʷom⟩ of the relative pronoun, which survives as ⟨quom⟩, later cum².^[2] The OLD likewise reconstructs ⟨*do-ne-quom⟩,^[1] and Köbler compares dēnique.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Livius Andronicus,^[2][4] in a fragment of his Odyssey quoted by the grammarian Charisius.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is an old form of dōnec, “until, till”,^[1][5][6] and Wiktionary also gives it the sense “while, as long as”.^[3] Plautus uses it in the Captivi, the Pseudolus and the Aulularia, and Cato both in his treatise on agriculture and in his speeches;^[5][7] later it appears in Nepos's life of Hamilcar and in the Itinerarium Alexandri.^[5][6] A medieval glossary notes that the ancients said donicum for donec.^[8]

Timeline

• 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it in his Odyssey.^[2][5][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in several plays.^[5][7][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in his treatise on agriculture.^[5][7][4]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it in the life of Hamilcar.^[5][6][4]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. until, till.^[1][5]
2. while, as long as.^[3][4]

Related words

• dōnec
• dum
• dēnique

Usage notes

Du Cange has a separate medieval donicum in the statutes of Piacenza, where labōrātōrēs ad dōnicum are tenants who hold land in return for a share of its produce.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre