festino

Forms

festīnō (present infinitive festīnāre, perfect active festīnāvī, supine festīnātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from an old noun ⟨*festi-⟩ “haste”, which cōnfestim (“immediately”) also presupposes; de Vaan traces it to Proto-Italic *fristi- (“haste”) and Proto-Indo-European *bʰristi-, cognate with Welsh brys (“haste; speedy”) and Middle Breton ⟨bresic⟩ “hurried”; the OLD adds Irish ⟨brass⟩ “swift”.^[2][3] Vine argues that the adjective festīnus, though attested later, is older: an instrumental ⟨*fris-tī⟩ “with haste” gave ⟨*fristī-no-⟩, from which the verb was formed.^[2] Lewis & Short compared Ancient Greek θείνω (theínō, “to strike”) and the ⟨-fendō⟩ of dēfendō.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Casina: omnēs festīnant intus tōtīs aedibus, “everyone is bustling about all over the house”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Intransitively festīnō is to make haste, act hurriedly or bustle (Plautus), to go quickly (quid illic festīnet sentiō, “I see why he's hurrying there”), to be pressed for time (Cicero: festīnābam, “I was in a hurry”) and, with an infinitive, to be eager to do something.^[3] Of work and time it is to go swiftly forward.^[3] Transitively it is to do something quickly, to hurry on: Ennius' fēstīvum festīnant diem, “they hasten the festive day”, and Ovid's nē festīnātum faciātis iter, “don't make the journey in haste”.^[3][1] Sallust has festīnā, “lose no time”.^[3]

Church Latin glosses it “hasten, hurry”, with the saying festīnā lentē, “hurry slowly”.^[5][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of bustling and hurrying.^[3][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: fēstīvum festīnant diem.^[3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of being pressed for time.^[3][6]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a hurried journey.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make haste, hurry; to bustle.^[3][1][5]
2. To go quickly;^[3][1] (of time) to pass swiftly.^[3][1]
3. To be in a hurry; to be eager (to).^[3]
4. (transitive) To hasten, do hastily, speed up.^[3][1]

Word family

• festīnābundus
• festīnātim
• festīnātiō
• festīnus
• praefestīnō
• festīnāns
• festīnanter
• festīnātō

Related words

• cōnfestim

Usage notes

Festīnā lentē, “make haste slowly”, is a Latin saying.^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de