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horresco

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word horresco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
204–169 BC, Ennius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*ǵʰr̥s-eh₁-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin horreo
Latin horresco
Latin inhorresco
Latin perhorresco

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [hɔrˈreːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [orˈrɛs.ko][1]

Forms

horrēscō (present infinitive horrēscere, perfect active horruī); third conjugation, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin horreō (“to bristle, shudder”) + -scō, an inchoative verb.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces horreō to Proto-Italic *χors-ē- (“to be stiff”) and Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰr̥s-eh₁- (“to be stiff, surprised”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius has weapons that bristle as they are raised, and an army bristling with spears on both sides.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it mostly poetic in the literal sense: Ovid has hair that stood on end, Virgil fields that ripple under gentle winds.[6] Silius uses it of a storm beginning to rage, and Cicero of the sea suddenly growing rough.[2] Of people it is to shudder and tremble with fear: in Plautus someone promises to make a bawd tremble.[2] With an object it is to shudder at: Virgil has "do not dread the gnawing of the tables to come".[2] The perfect is that of horreō.[2] The TLL notes the spelling ⟨horrisco⟩.[3]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of bristling weapons.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a trembling bawd.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the sea growing rough.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of dread.[2][5]
  • 25–101 AD – Silius of a storm.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To stand up stiffly, bristle; to bristle with points.[2][6][1]
  2. Of the weather or sea, to grow rough, begin to rage.[2]
  3. To become agitated; to shudder, tremble with fear.[2][1]
  4. To shudder at, dread.[2][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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 c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Horresco.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/horresco. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·