frequenter

Forms

frequenter (comparative frequentius, superlative frequentissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is the adverb of frequēns (“crowded, frequent”), formed with -ter.^[2][1] The origin of the adjective is unclear: Nussbaum connects it with farciō (“to stuff”) through a root ⟨*bʰrekʷ-⟩, which de Vaan finds attractive in meaning though the root would have an unusual shape.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato is the earliest author in the OLD, who tells the pressers to draw off the oil frequently;^[2] Köbler gives Cicero.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is in large numbers or in crowds, as Cicero's morning callers who come in greater numbers than usual, and with verbs of inhabiting densely, as Cicero's part of Syracuse most thickly inhabited.^[2][5] Its commonest sense is often, repeatedly or at frequent intervals, as in Cato.^[2][5][1] It is also commonly or widely, as Varro's word for food used more in Sicily than in Italy.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “frequently, often”.^[6]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato in the sense “often”.^[2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro in the sense “commonly”.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of crowds of callers.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In large numbers, in crowds; densely.^[2][5][1]
2. Often, frequently, repeatedly.^[2][5][1][6]
3. Commonly, widely.^[2]

Related words

• frequēns
• frequentātiō
• frequentātus
• frequentia
• frequentō
• saepe
• crēbrō

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts saepe, often as opposed to once or always, with crēbrō and frequenter, often as opposed to seldom.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper