Etymologically
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exanimo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈsa.nɪ.moː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eɡˈzaː.ni.mo][1]

Forms

exanimō (present infinitive exanimāre, perfect active exanimāvī, supine exanimātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- (“out”) and anima (“breath, life”) as a first-conjugation verb, “to drive the breath out”.[2][1][3] De Vaan lists it under animus and ⟨anima⟩, from Proto-Italic *anamo- (“breath, spirit”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-mo- (“breath”), cognate with Ancient Greek ἄνεμος (ánemos, “wind”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[4] In Terence a woman says a speech has left her half dead with fear.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its senses run from “to deprive of breath” to “to kill”: the poem Aetna has smiths emptying their bellows of air, and Cicero people killed before they would admit defeat.[2][5] It is also to exhaust, as Caesar's enemies breathless from running and weariness, and to stun with fear or another strong emotion, as in Terence.[2] In the passive it is to be out of breath, or to be dead.[1]

English exanimate “lifeless” (1530s) comes from its past participle.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[4][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of terror.[2][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of exhausted soldiers.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of killing.[2][7]
  • 1530s – English exanimate.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To empty of air, deflate.[2][5][1]
  2. To deprive of life, kill; to destroy the strength of.[2][1]
  3. To exhaust, put out of breath.[2][1]
  4. To stun with fear or strong emotion, terrify.[2][1]

Word family

  • exanimālis
  • exanimātiō
  • exanimus
  • exanimābiliter
  • exanimātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de