Etymologically
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everbero

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈwɛr.bɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈvɛr.be.ro][1]

Forms

ēverberō (present infinitive ēverberāre, perfect active ēverberāvī, supine ēverberātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + verberō1 (“to beat, flog”).[2][1] That verb comes from verber (“whip, rod”),[1] which de Vaan finds mostly in the plural ⟨verbera⟩ and traces to an s-stem, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *uerb(h)-es-; he compares Lithuanian vir̃bas (“stick, twig”) and Latvian virbs (“small stick”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Virgil and Ovid on;[4] in the Aeneid Virgil uses it of beating a shield with the wings.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it rare and not used before Augustus.[6] Ovid has ashes beaten off with flapping wings and Quintilian an enemy's face and eyes struck with beak and wings;[6][7][5] Curtius uses it of lashing the sea with oars and of striking someone's face with spears, and Valerius Flaccus of beating the breast.[6][7] Seneca uses it of water and air whipped up.[7]

Figuratively Gellius says that a boy's silence spurs a woman to ask questions,[2][5] and Ammianus has words that kept battering anxious ears.[6][7] Medieval writers used it in the sense “to shake”.[8]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of beating a shield with wings.[4][9]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of beating off ashes.[6][9]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius uses it of lashing the sea with oars.[6][9]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it figuratively, of spurring the mind.[2][9]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of words battering the ears.[6][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To beat or strike violently, lash (with wings, oars or weapons).[2][6][7]
  2. (figurative) To stir, spur (to an action).[2][10]
  3. (figurative) To keep battering (the ears).[6][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To shake.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.