immisceo

Forms

immisceō (present infinitive immiscēre, perfect active immiscuī, supine immixtum); second conjugation^[1] Virgil has the archaic passive infinitive immiscērier.^[2] It is also spelled inmisceō.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + misceō (“to mix”).^[3][1][4] The verb misceō goes back to Proto-Italic *mikskeō and Proto-Indo-European *miḱ-sḱé- (“to mix”).^[5] Cognate with Ancient Greek μείγνυμι (meígnumi, “to mix”), Lithuanian maišýti (“to mix”) and Old Irish mescaid (“mixes, confuses”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is Lucretius on the view that everything lies hidden mixed in all things;^[3] Lewis & Short note that it is not frequent until after the Augustan age and is not found in Cicero.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to mix one thing with another, also with abstract objects, as Horace's mixing what should be avoided with what should be sought, and reflexively to merge into something, as Virgil's “so he spoke, and merged into the black night”.^[3] Of people it is to mingle among a group, as Tibullus' line of youths mingled with tender girls, and to involve someone in something, often reflexively to take part or meddle.^[3][1] Livy uses it of throwing affairs into confusion.^[3]

Church Latin glosses it “mix in, mingle with, join with, become involved with”.^[6]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of things mixed with others.^[3][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of merging into the night.^[3][7]
• c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus of youths among girls.^[3][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of throwing things into confusion.^[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To mix in, blend; reflexive, to merge into.^[3][2][1]
2. To mingle among people; passive or reflexive, to join, associate with.^[3][1]
3. To involve; reflexive, to take part in, meddle.^[3][1]
4. To mix together, throw into confusion.^[3]

Word family

• immistus
• immixtus

Related words

• admisceō
• commisceō
• ēmisceō
• impermisceō
• intermisceō
• misceō
• permisceō
• prōmiscuus
• remisceō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de