excussus

Forms

excussus (feminine excussa, neuter excussum, comparative excussior, superlative excussissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin excutiō (“to shake out, throw off”), its past participle used as an adjective.^[1][2] The verb is formed from ex- and quatiō (“to shake”).^[3] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *kwat-i- and thinks it might be a non-Indo-European word in origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Seneca,^[5] who writes that a maxim is hurled as if by a more vigorous arm, velut lacertō excussiōre torquētur.^[1]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it is used of the arm in striking or throwing, vigorous or violent:^[1] Petronius has a face struck with a most violent slap, palmā excussissimā.^[1] Seneca also has the adverb excussē, strenuously.^[1] As a participle it kept the senses of the verb, and Church Latin uses it for cast out or thrown down.^[6]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses the comparative of a vigorous throwing arm.^[1][5]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses the superlative of a violent slap.^[1][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of the arm in striking or throwing) Vigorous, violent.^[1]
2. (participle) Cast out, thrown down or out.^[6]

Word family

• excussē

Usage notes

A separate noun excussus, -ūs, “a beating out”, is found late, in Prudentius and Claudius Donatus.^[2][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ 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 c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften