flaccidus

Forms

flaccidus (feminine flaccida, neuter flaccidum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin flacceō (“to be flabby”) + -idus.^[2][1] De Vaan lists it, from Lucretius on, among the derivatives of flaccus (“flabby, flap-eared”), an adjective with an expressive doubled consonant for which he finds no etymology; he rejects all explanations that assume a change of /ml/ to /fl/.^[3] Etymonline reports the OED's suggestion that the base is imitative.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius (96–55 BC)^[5] has the comparative in a figurative sense, of the moon carried round by a feebler whirl: flaccidiore … turbine fertur.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In the literal sense the word describes what droops or hangs limp:^[2][7] drooping ears in Columella, a very large and limp leaf in Pliny the Elder,^[6] and sails that should be neither slack nor drawn tight in Apuleius.^[6] Arnobius calls an argument feeble.^[6]

The TLL, after Meyer-Lübke, lists Old French flaistre and Spanish lacio among its Romance outcomes,^[6] and Italian has the learned flaccido.^[8] English borrowed it as flaccid in the 1610s, from French or directly from Latin.^[4]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the moon's feebler whirl.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of drooping ears.^[6][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a limp leaf.^[7][5]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of slack sails.^[7][5]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius calls an argument flaccida.^[7][5]
• 1610s – English borrows it as flaccid.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Drooping, flabby, limp.^[2][7]
2. (figurative) languid, feeble, weak.^[2][7]

Related words

• flaccus
• flaccēscō
• English flaccid

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier