Etymologically
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etenim

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɛ.tɛ.nĩː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛː.te.nim][1]

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]

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