enitesco

Forms

ēnitēscō (present infinitive ēnitēscere, perfect active ēnituī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[2][3] The spelling ēnitīscō also occurs.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + nitēscō (“to begin to shine”), according to the OLD;^[2] the TLL derives it from ēniteō (“to shine forth”), of which Wiktionary treats it as a variant form.^[4][1] Both go back to niteō (“to shine”), which de Vaan explains as built on a past participle meaning “made bright”, though no known Indo-European root fits its form and meaning.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, of glory that shines out more each day, and in Cicero, who says that the outstanding virtue of Marcus Cato shone out in a war.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

In the literal sense Virgil has the untilled field gleaming once the plough is driven into it, Quintilian has eyes shining with cheerfulness and Gellius the sky growing bright;^[2][7] Horace uses it of a woman who grows lovelier as soon as she has sworn a false oath.^[2][8]

Lewis & Short note that it is frequent after Augustus.^[8] Figuratively Sallust speaks of a new war in which courage could shine out, Quintilian of eloquence growing sleek as if on richer pasture, and Tacitus of people becoming distinguished for eloquence;^[2][8][3] Pliny the Elder says countless people have shone in the knowledge of various arts.^[2] Medieval writers used it of things and people shining, of standing out, and of becoming evident.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of virtue shining out in war.^[2][9]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of courage.^[2][9]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a ploughed field.^[2][9]
• c. 35–95 AD – Quintilian uses it of eyes and of eloquence.^[2][9]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of the sky growing bright.^[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To begin to shine forth, grow bright;^[2][8] (of animals) to grow sleek.^[2][8]
2. (figurative) To become conspicuous, stand out;^[2][8] (of people) to distinguish oneself, “shine”.^[2][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) To become evident, appear.^[5]

Related words

• ēniteō
• nitēscō
• niteō

Usage notes

A different ēnitēscō, formed from ēnītor “to strive”, is found in the Latin translation of Theodore of Mopsuestia^[4] and in Thietmar's chronicle.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de