ementior

Forms

ēmentior (present infinitive ēmentīrī, perfect active ēmentītus sum); fourth conjugation, deponent^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + mentior (“to lie”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan explains mentior as a verb made from Proto-Italic *mn̥ti-, the noun that became mēns (“mind”), from Proto-Indo-European *mn-ti- (“thought, mind”);^[4] “to lie” grew out of “to have second thoughts, be inventive”.^[4] Cognate with Sanskrit मति (matí-, “thought”) and Lithuanian mintìs (“thought, idea”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the Amphitruo: “all you said just now, you made it all up”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is to give a false account of something, to make it up: Plautus has a man someone invented,^[2] Cicero asks whether he is to pretend he is bound by a kindness, and says rhetoricians are allowed to invent in history.^[2] Sallust and Livy use it too.^[5] The participle ēmentītus is also passive, as Cicero's falsified auspices,^[2][3] and Priscian lists it among the deponents used in both voices.^[3] It is also to assume an appearance falsely: Gellius has vices that put on a false likeness of the virtues.^[2] Church Latin has “pretend, falsify”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of making up a story.^[5][2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of pretending and of falsified auspices.^[2][7]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius, of vices feigning virtues.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give a false account of, falsify, make up, invent; with accusative and infinitive, to pretend that.^[2][5][1]
2. To speak untruthfully, invent stories.^[2]
3. To assume falsely, feign.^[2][1]
4. (perfect participle, passive) Falsified.^[2][3]

Related words

• mentior
• mēns
• mendācium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de