Etymologically
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findo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfɪn.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfin.do][1]

Forms

findō (present infinitive findere, perfect active fidī, supine fissum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *findō, from the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *bʰi-n-éd- (“to split”) of the root *bʰeyd-.[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit भिनत्ति (bhinátti, “splits”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “to bite”) and English bite.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2] Cicero's translation of Aratus says that roots cannot split the earth.[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to split apart or cleave, as ships' beaks cleave a hostile land in Virgil, and to cleave the sea or the air in sailing, swimming or flying.[3] It also meant to cut in two or divide, said of rivers and boundaries, and to open a path by splitting.[3] Lucretius speaks of the cloven hoof (fissa ungula).[5]

It survives in Italian fendere, French fendre and Spanish hender.[1] Its derivatives fissūra and fissiō gave English fissure about 1400 and English fission in 1819.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of a cloven hoof.[5][4]
  • c. 1400 – English fissure is recorded.[6]
  • 1819 – English fission is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To split, cleave.[3]
  2. To cleave (the sea, the air).[3]
  3. To divide, halve.[3]
  4. To open up (a path).[3]

Word family

  • bifidus
  • bifissus
  • confindō
  • dēfindō
  • diffindō
  • effindo
  • fissiculō
  • fissilis
  • fissiō
  • fissipēs
  • fissum
  • fissūra
  • English fissure
  • English fission

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes findere, splitting along a thing's natural grain, as when cleaving wood lengthways, from scindere, tearing apart by force.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper