Etymologically
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fodio

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfɔ.di.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɔː.di.o][1]

Forms

fodiō (present infinitive fodere, perfect active fōdī, supine fossum); third (-iō variant) conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *foþ-i-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰodʰ-i- (“to poke, dig”).[2] Since Hittite, Latin, Balto-Slavic and Tocharian all have verbs with the o-grade, the formation may first have been iterative or intransitive.[2] The long /ō/ of the perfect fōdī is probably analogical, as in veniō : vēnī.[2]

Cognate with Hittite padda- (“to dig”), Lithuanian bèsti (“to stick, dig”), Old Church Slavonic бости (bosti, “to stab”) and Tocharian A pātar (“they ploughed”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2] where a cook regrets not having stabbed someone in the side.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus it meant to pierce, prick or stab, as well as to dig a garden or sink a well.[3] It meant to dig over and work land, to work mines, to dig trenches and pits, and to dig up and quarry, as in Pliny's nard dug up when it loses its leaves.[3][4] Figuratively it meant to goad or sting.[1]

Its participle gave fossa “ditch” and fossilis “dug up”, the source of English fosse and, through French, fossil in the 1610s.[2][5] It survives as French fouir “to dig”.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of stabbing, digging a garden and sinking a well.[3][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of digging over a vineyard and garden.[4][7][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of working mines and digging foundations.[3][7][6]
  • 1610s – English fossil comes from its derivative fossilis.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pierce, prick, prod, stab.[3][1]
  2. To dig, dig over (land); to work (mines).[3][1]
  3. To make by digging (trenches, wells).[3]
  4. To dig up; to quarry, mine.[3][1]
  5. (figurative) To goad, sting, disturb.[1]

Word family

  • affodiō
  • circumfodiō
  • cōnfodiō
  • dēfodiō
  • effodiō
  • fodīna
  • fossa
  • fossīcius
  • fossilis
  • fossiō
  • fossō
  • fossor
  • fossātus
  • fossula
  • English fossil
  • English fosse

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn