Etymologically
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exhorresco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛk.sɔrˈreːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eɡ.zorˈrɛs.ko][1]

Forms

exhorrēscō (present infinitive exhorrēscere, perfect active exhorruī); third conjugation, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + horrēscō (“to begin to bristle, shudder”).[2][1] The TLL relates it to horreō (“to bristle, shudder”),[3] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *χors-ē- (“to be stiff”) and Proto-Indo-European *ǵhrs-eh₁- (“to be stiff, surprised”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Cicero on.[3] In On Ends Cicero speaks of wisdom quae nōs exhorrēscere metū nōn sinat, which does not let us shudder with fear.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means to shudder or tremble greatly, with fear or dread,[2][6] and Ovid compares such a shudder to the sea trembling when a light breeze touches its surface.[5] Used transitively it means to shudder at: Virgil has vultūs nēve exhorrēscat amīcōs, “and let him not dread friendly faces”.[2][6] Suetonius uses it of shrinking from the title dominus.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of shuddering with fear.[2][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it transitively.[2][8]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the Metamorphoses.[5][8]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of shrinking from a title.[7][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To shudder, tremble greatly; to be terrified.[2][6]
  2. (transitive) To shudder at, dread.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de