frictio

Forms

frictiō f (genitive frictiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fricō (“to rub”) + -tiō.^[2][3][1] De Vaan treats fricō under friō (“to crumble”): the verb presupposes an adjective Proto-Italic *fri-k-, probably formed secondarily beside the adjective behind ⟨friō⟩, from Proto-Indo-European *bhriH-o- (“cut”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a technical term of the physicians, found from Celsus on,^[3] who uses it of rubbing the body as a treatment, gentle or vigorous.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Celsus uses it often, in the singular and the plural, of massage as part of a regimen, beside carrying in a litter and exercise.^[3][6] Arnobius has it in the more general sense of the action of rubbing.^[7] English took the word in the 1560s, through French and directly from Latin, as friction, “a chafing, rubbing”.^[8]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of medical massage.^[2][3][9]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of the action of rubbing.^[7][9]
• 1560s – English borrows it as friction.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) massage, rubbing down of the body.^[2][5][3]
2. A rubbing, friction.^[7][1]

Related words

• English friction

Usage notes

A medieval frictio “a chill, a cold” is a shortening of perfrictiō, found in a 9th-century St Gall herbal and in medical recipes.^[10][9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
10. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften