gratificor

Forms

grātificor (present infinitive grātificārī, perfect active grātificātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^[1] An active grātificō is found in Late Latin.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin grātus (“pleasing”) + -ficus + -ō, “to make pleasing”;^[4][1] the TLL compares the phrase “grātum facere alicui” “to do someone a favour”.^[2] De Vaan traces grātus to Proto-Italic *gʷrāto- (“grateful”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʷrH-to- (“praised in song”),^[5] and Wiktionary traces ⟨-ficus⟩, from faciō (“to make”), to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short's instances begin with Cicero,^[3] who writes in a letter of people who think they are pleasing Pompey.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is to oblige or gratify a person, as Cicero has of freedom when the people may do good men a favour, and of a god who bestows nothing on anyone.^[3] With an object it is to bestow something as a favour, or to give it up, as Cicero's man who was too free in giving away rights.^[4][3] Livy and Tacitus also use it.^[3] The TLL notes an active grātificō from the old Latin Bible on,^[2] and the Vulgate has grātificāvit in Ephesians 1:6;^[3] Augustine says it is said from grātia.^[2] English gratify comes from it, from about 1400.^[6] Stelten gives “gratify, oblige”.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of obliging and of bestowing.^[4][3][8]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of being complaisant.^[3][8]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, in an active form.^[3][8]
• c. 1400 – English gratify.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To show kindness to, oblige, gratify, humour.^[4][3][1][7]
2. To bestow as a favour, make a present of; to give up, sacrifice.^[4][3]

Related words

• grātus
• grātificātiō
• English gratify

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de