exstinctus

Forms

exstīnctus m (genitive exstīnctūs, ablative exstīnctū); fourth declension^[2][3] It is also spelled extinctus.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin exstinguō (“to put out, extinguish”) + -tus, the suffix of verbal nouns of the fourth declension.^[2][5] The verb is ex- with stinguō, which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *ste-n-gʷ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ-e/o- (“to push, thrust”), explaining the sense “put out a fire” from a root meaning to press or push.^[6] He compares Umbrian anstintu (“to connect, attach”) and Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌵𐌰𐌽 (stigqan, “to thrust”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is found in Pliny the Elder, in the ablative exstinctū, of the smell given off by lamps when they are snuffed out.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Pliny the noun means the putting out of a light.^[2][3][7] The TLL equates it with exstinctiō and cites a sermon attributed to Augustine in which it means the killing of people, the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem.^[5]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for the snuffing of lamps.^[2][4][8]
• Late Latin – A sermon attributed to Augustine uses it of the killing of the children of Bethlehem.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of extinguishing or snuffing out a light.^[2][4][9]
2. (Late Latin) Killing, slaughter.^[5]

Usage notes

Exstinctus, -a, -um is also the perfect participle of exstinguō, “put out, killed, destroyed”;^[4][1] as an adjective the TLL lists it under its own head, more often used as a noun.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn