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elido

Etymology and origin of the Latin word elido

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (laedō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin laedo
Latin elido

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [eːˈliː.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eˈliː.do][1]

Forms

ēlīdō (present infinitive ēlīdere, perfect active ēlīsī, supine ēlīsum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + laedō (“to strike, hurt”), with the vowel weakened in composition.[2][3][1][4] De Vaan finds no secure etymology for ⟨laedō⟩.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are Plautus, of crushing and of knocking out.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to break thoroughly, crush, smash, and to knock out, eject, both in Plautus, as of a charioteer thrown from a chariot in Cicero; and in Lucretius to force out, emit with violence, as of liquids, air or flames.[2][7] In grammar it meant to suppress a vowel, elide.[4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to throw open, cast or dash down.[8] English elide (1590s) is from it through French.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of crushing.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of forcing out.[2][6]
  • 1590s – English elide is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To crush, smash, shatter.[2]
  2. To knock out, eject.[2][9]
  3. To force out, emit violently.[2]
  4. (grammar) To elide (a vowel).[4]

Word family

  • ēlīsiō
  • laedō
  • collīdō
  • English elide
  • English elision

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Elido.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/elido. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·