Etymologically
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exulcero

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈsʊɫ.kɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eɡˈzul̠ʲ.t͡ʃe.ro][1]

Forms

exulcerō (present infinitive exulcerāre, perfect active exulcerāvī, supine exulcerātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + ulcerō (“to make sore”), from ulcus (“sore, ulcer”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ulcus to Proto-Italic *elkos and Proto-Indo-European *h₁elḱ-os (“ulcer”), with cognates such as Ancient Greek ἕλκος (hélkos, “wound, ulcer”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro uses it first, in De re rustica, of insects that usually make a dog's ears sore.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means to make raw or sore, to cause to ulcerate: Celsus speaks of the skin and the bowels, Columella of the womb, and Pliny the Elder of the stomach and of scars;[5] Celsus also says that any jolting causes ulcers.[5] Pliny the Elder once uses it in the opposite sense, of vine leaves that clear the body of sores.[2] Figuratively it is to wound the feelings: Cicero says he was made sore by the suspicions of certain men,[2] and speaks of an embittered mind in which a false charge easily lodges;[5] Livy has the anger of embittered minds.[5] It is also to make worse, aggravate: Cicero says some speakers aggravate the weak points they cannot heal,[2][5] and Pliny the Younger uses it of grief.[5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of sore ears.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of wounded feelings and aggravated weaknesses.[2][5]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus of sore skin.[5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the stomach and of scars.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make raw or sore, inflame; to cause to ulcerate or suppurate.[2][5][1]
  2. (figurative) To wound the feelings of, embitter.[2][5]
  3. To make worse, aggravate.[2][5][1]
  4. To free from sores.[2]

Word family

  • exulcerātiō
  • exulcerātōrius
  • exulcerātrix

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ 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 d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press