Etymologically
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horrifer

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Forms

horrifer (feminine horrifera, neuter horriferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)[1] Pacuvius has the old genitive plural horriferum.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin horreō (“to bristle, shudder”) + -fer (“bearing”);[2][1] the TLL derives it from horror and ferō (“to carry”), and compares words like horrificus and pestifer.[4] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *χors-ē- (“to be stiff”) and Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰr̥s-eh₁- (“to be stiff, surprised”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in the tragedians Pacuvius and Accius,[5][4] meaning “dreadful”: Pacuvius speaks of a “dreadful prodigy” (prōdigium horriferum).[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic word.[4][3] It means “frightening, dreadful”, as in Lucretius' Tartarus belching dreadful heat, Virgil's aegis and Ovid's Erinys,[2] and also “bringing cold, chilling”: Accius has the chilling roar of the north wind, and Ovid uses it of Boreas.[2][3] Seneca and Valerius Flaccus apply it to icy regions and snow.[2]

In medieval Latin it kept both senses: Aldhelm speaks of God's dreadful wrath, and the Carmina Burana of the cold north wind giving way to the west wind.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius speaks of a dreadful prodigy.[2][8]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of the chilling north wind.[2][8]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of Tartarus.[2][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the aegis.[2][8]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of God's wrath.[6][8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Frightening, dreadful, horrible.[2][3]
  2. Bringing cold, freezing, chilling.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b 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 Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de