horrifico

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [hɔrˈrɪ.fɪ.koː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [orˈriː.fi.ko]^[1]

Forms

horrificō (present infinitive horrificāre, perfect active horrificāvī, supine horrificātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from horrificus “causing dread” with the verb suffix ⟨-ō⟩, or from horreō with ⟨-ficō⟩.^[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨horreō⟩ to Proto-Italic *xors-ē- (“to be stiff”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰr̥s-eh₁- (“to be stiff, surprised”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Catullus, horrificāre mare “to ruffle the sea”.^[2][5] Köbler dates Catullus 81/79–52/50 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Poetic and post-Augustan, it meant to ruffle the surface of, roughen, as in Catullus; to frighten, terrify, as in Virgil; and to make terrible in appearance, as of helmets with the jaws of beasts in Silius Italicus.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of terror.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ruffle the surface of.^[2]
2. To frighten, terrify.^[2]
3. To make terrible in appearance.^[2]

Word family

• horrificābilis

Related words

• horrificus
• horreō
• horror

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press