Etymologically
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eniteo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈnɪ.te.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈniː.te.o][1]

Forms

ēniteō (present infinitive ēnitēre); second conjugation, no perfect or supine stems[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + niteō (“to shine”).[2][1][3] De Vaan explains niteō as built on a participle *nitos “made bright”, but finds no known Indo-European root that fits its form and meaning.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Accius,[4] whose line on crops that shine forth Cicero quotes in the Tusculan Disputations.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is to shine forth, be bright: Catullus has myrtle shining with flowering twigs, Virgil a plain, and Gellius the sky clearing up again.[5] Figuratively it is used of a person or a quality that stands out: the Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of being outstanding in every part of style.[2][5] The OLD files the perfect ⟨ēnituī⟩ under the inchoative ēnitēscō,[2] and the TLL does the same.[3] Church Latin glosses it to shine forth, gleam.[6]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of shining crops.[5][4][7]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of flowering myrtle.[5][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a shining plain.[5][7]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of the sky clearing up.[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To shine forth, gleam, be bright.[2][5][1][6]
  2. (figurative) Of a person or quality, to be conspicuous or outstanding.[2][5][1]
  • interniteō
  • niteō
  • perniteō
  • praeniteō
  • reniteō
  • ēnitēscō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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 e f g h i 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. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de