elimino

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [eːˈliː.mɪ.noː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eˈliː.mi.no]^[1]

Forms

ēlīminō (present infinitive ēlīmināre, perfect active ēlīmināvī, supine ēlīminātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from ex- “out” and līmen “threshold”, that is, “out of doors”.^[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's citation for letting out secrets is from Horace, whom Köbler dates 65–8 BC.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to turn out of doors, and in the passive or reflexive to go outside.^[2] Nonius glosses it as to throw out beyond the threshold, to go out, and to exclude.^[3] Horace uses it of letting secrets out, nē fīdōs inter amīcōs sit quī dicta forās ēlīminet “that there be none among faithful friends who carries words outside”.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to eradicate, eliminate.^[6] It was borrowed into Italian eliminare and French éliminer, and its participle ēlīminātus gave English eliminate in the 1560s, “to thrust out of doors”.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of letting out secrets.^[2][5]
• 1560s – English eliminate is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To turn out of doors; reflexively, to go outside.^[2]
2. To let out (secrets).^[2]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To eradicate, eliminate.^[6]

Related words

• līmen
• English eliminate

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b 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