etenim

Forms

etenim ^[1] Vitruvius and perhaps others separate it as et … enim.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from et “and” and enim “for, indeed”.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} De Vaan derives ⟨enim⟩ from the accusative of a pronoun Proto-Italic *eno- (“that one”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence uses it in a parenthesis: etenim bene lubenter victitās, “and indeed you live very happily”.^[2] Köbler dates it from Lucretius.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Etenim adds an explanation or confirmation of what has been said, “for, and indeed, since”.^[2][3][1] Cicero uses it to introduce rhetorical questions and particular examples supporting a general claim, and it also introduces a parenthesis.^[2] It normally stands first in its sentence, but poets and later prose often put it second.^[2] Lewis and Short note that it is not frequent before the classical period, especially Cicero.^[3]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence: etenim bene lubenter victitās.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: etenim quis tam dissolūtō animō est…?, “for who is so careless…?”^[2][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace places it third in its sentence.^[2][5]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. for, and indeed, since, because.^[2][3][1]
2. As a matter of fact, for instance.^[2][1]

Related words

• et
• enim
• namque

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill