Etymologically
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ementior

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈmɛn.ti.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈmɛn.t͡si.or][1]

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]

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