Etymologically
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emereo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈmɛ.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈmɛː.re.o][1]

Forms

ēmereō (present infinitive ēmerēre, perfect active ēmeruī, supine ēmeritum); second conjugation[1] There is also a deponent ēmereor.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + mereō (“to earn, serve”).[2][4][1] De Vaan traces mereō to Proto-Italic *mer-ē- (“to earn”) and, with a question mark, Proto-Indo-European *(s)mr-eh₁- (“to earn”), and finds its formation problematic.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first: in the Mostellaria of one term of service completed, and in the Aulularia quid ego ēmeruī malī?, “what evil have I deserved?”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its chief sense is military, to serve out one's term or a number of campaigns, and absolutely to earn one's discharge, mostly in the perfect participle ēmeritus.[2] Plautus already transfers it to a courtesan whose time has been served, and Cicero to a year of duty completed.[2] It is also to earn a reward, as Propertius' honours of the robe, and to win someone's favour, as Tibullus of a sister said to have won many men's favour.[2][3] Lewis & Short note that the deponent ēmereor is perhaps not found before Augustus, and that the sense “earn” is rare and not in Cicero.[3] The Res gestae of Augustus have the participle ending ⟨-teis⟩.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a term of service completed.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a year of duty completed.[2][6]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius, of earning honours.[2][3][6]
  • c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus, of winning favour.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (military) To serve out (one's term, a number of campaigns); to earn one's discharge.[2][3][1]
  2. To complete (a term of office or a task).[2]
  3. To earn, deserve, gain by service.[2][3][1]
  4. To win the favour of.[2]

Word family

  • ēmeritus
  • commereō
  • dēmereō
  • mereō
  • prōmereō

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 m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de