Etymologically
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donicum

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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]

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