Etymologically
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elongo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈɫɔŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈlɔŋ.ɡo][1]

Forms

ēlongō (present infinitive ēlongāre, perfect active ēlongāvī, supine ēlongātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ē- + longus (“long”), with the first-conjugation verb ending.[2][3][4] Lewis and Short instead derive it from ē- and longē (“far”).[5] It continues in Romance, for example in French allonger, according to the TLL.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Old Latin Bible (after 220),[2][6] where it means to keep away or remove: the Book of Proverbs speaks of being led away from the right road.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

A word of Late and Church Latin, it was used in two directions: of length, to lengthen or prolong (a foot, a meal, a day), and of distance, to remove or keep far off.[2][5] An ancient glossary gives it as the equivalent of Greek μακρύνω (makrúnō, “to lengthen”).[2][5] The Vulgate uses it for keeping help far away in the Psalms (nē ēlongāveris auxilium tuum, “do not keep your help far from me”), and intransitively, and in the passive, for going far away.[5][4][8] Ambrose opposed it to appropinquāre, “to come near”.[3]

Gregory of Tours writes of a shortened foot that was lengthened again and of a meal drawn out until nightfall,[2] and the Novellae of Justinian (537) of the years God may lengthen.[2] Medieval Latin kept both senses, of lengthening in space and time and of removing.[9] English elongate (1530s) comes from its past participle.[10]

Timeline

  • after 220 – The Old Latin Bible uses it for keeping someone away.[2][6]
  • c. 340–397 – Ambrose uses it intransitively for moving away.[3][6]
  • 390–406 – The Vulgate uses it for keeping help far off and for prolonging a day.[5][6]
  • 537 – The Novellae of Justinian use it for lengthening the years of a reign.[2]
  • 538/539–594 – Gregory of Tours uses it for lengthening a foot and a meal.[2][6]
  • 1530s – English elongate comes from its past participle.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To remove, keep far off.[5][3][4]
  2. (intransitive, also passive) To go far away, withdraw, depart.[3][4][7]
  3. To lengthen, prolong, protract.[5][2][4]

Word family

  • ēlongātiō
  • English elongate

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Jeanneau, Gérard; Woitrain, Jean-Paul; Hassid, Jean-Claude (2017), Dictionnaire latin-français, online ed., prima-elementa.fr
  9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com