enarro

Forms

ēnārrō (present infinitive ēnārrāre, perfect active ēnārrāvī, supine ēnārrātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + narrō (“to tell”).^[2][1] De Vaan lists it, with the simple verb, among the derivatives of gnārus (“knowing”); the simple verb lost the ⟨g-⟩ that the adjective kept on the model of ignārus.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,^[3] first in the Amphitruo: ea tibi omnia ēnarrāvī, “I have told you all of that”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant to tell a thing in full and in order: Terence has a whole affair told to an old man, Cicero a dream told to the senate, Livy feelings that could hardly be put into words.^[2][4] From Quintilian on it was also the word for explaining a text, as a teacher expounds the poets, and Gellius asks to have a word explained.^[2][4] Gellius also has a comparative adverb ēnārrātius, “more explicitly”.^[5]

Ecclesiastical Latin used it for declaring and proclaiming,^[6] and medieval writers for reporting, relating and praising.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for telling something in full.^[2][8]
• 190–159 BC – Terence has an affair told in order.^[2][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero tells of a dream related to the senate.^[2][8]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it for explaining poems.^[2][8]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius asks to have a word explained.^[2][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To relate or describe fully, recount.^[2][5]
2. To explain, expound, interpret (a text).^[2][5]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To declare, proclaim, show forth.^[6]

Word family

• ēnārrābilis
• ēnārrātiō
• ēnarrātor
• inēnarrātus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de