icio

Forms

īciō (present infinitive īcere, perfect active īcī, supine ictum); third (-iō variant) conjugation^[1] It is also spelled īcō;^[2][1] only a few forms occur, such as īcit, īcere, the perfect īcī and the participle ictus.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *īke/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂i-h₂iḱ-e/o- (“to hit, pierce”).^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek αἰχμή (aikhmḗ, “spear point”), Lithuanian iẽšmas (“spit, bayonet”) and Old Prussian aysmis (“spit”).^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus.^[4] The OLD's earliest quotation is a tragedy of Naevius, of one whom Jupiter once struck with lightning.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to strike with a weapon or missile, and of snakes and scorpions to strike or sting, as in Celsus.^[2] Of natural forces it is to strike or impinge, as Accius' whirlwinds struck by the clashing waves, and of light in Ennius.^[2] foedus īcere is to strike a treaty, as in the historian Coelius.^[2] Of feelings it is to affect strongly, as Lucretius' snake stung by the burning pain of its wound.^[2]

Döderlein says that verberāre is a blow that rebounds, while īcere and ferīre penetrate and wound.^[5]

Timeline

• 280/260–before 200 BC – First recorded in Livius Andronicus.^[4][6]
• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of a man struck by lightning.^[2][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius of light.^[2][6]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a snake stung by pain.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To strike, hit with a weapon; of snakes, to sting.^[2][3][1]
2. Of wind, waves or light, to strike, impinge on.^[2]
3. foedus īcere: to conclude a treaty.^[2]
4. Of feelings, to affect strongly.^[2]

Word family

• ictus

Related words

• feriō
• verberō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de