flexanimus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [fɫɛkˈsa.nɪ.mʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fleɡˈzaː.ni.mus]^[1]

Forms

flexanimus (feminine flexanima, neuter flexanimum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of flexus, the participle of flectō “to bend”, and animus “mind, spirit”.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Pacuvius, quoted by Cicero, Ō flexanima atque omnium rēgīna rērum ōrātiō “O speech, swayer of minds and queen of all things”.^[2][4][5] Köbler dates Pacuvius 220–130 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A poetic word, it meant actively that bends or sways the mind, persuasive, moving, as in Pacuvius and Catullus, and passively having a disordered mind, distracted, as in Pacuvius.^[2][4][5]

In British Medieval Latin it meant persuasive, affecting.^[7]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it.^[2][6]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.^[5][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That sways the mind, persuasive, moving.^[2]
2. Distracted, deranged.^[2]

Related words

• flectō
• animus

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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press