immoror

Forms

immoror (present infinitive immorārī, perfect active immorātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^[1] Also spelled inmoror.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + moror (“to delay, linger”).^[2][3][1][4] moror is derived from mora (“delay”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *morH-ā- (“delay”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a post-Augustan word,^[6] found in Seneca's letters, where remedies do no good unless they stay in the body,^[2] and in Columella, of birds staying on their nests.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

It meant to stay or linger in a place,^[2][8] as in Pliny the Elder, of a boy lingering at midday,^[6][7] and in Justin, of staying in Italy.^[8][4] Celsus uses it of intestines that stay in the groin.^[8] Figuratively it meant to dwell on a topic or activity, with the dative or in and the ablative, in Quintilian and Pliny the Younger.^[2][7][9] Augustine speaks of lingering in this life, and Tertullian uses it transitively for inhabiting a region.^[8][9]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to stay, remain or linger.^[10]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of remedies that stay in the body.^[2][11]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of thrushes on their nests.^[6][11]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a boy lingering at midday.^[6][11]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of dwelling on a subject.^[7][11]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for inhabiting a region.^[9][11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stay, remain, linger (in or at a place).^[2][6]
2. To dwell (on a topic or activity), tarry over.^[2][7]
3. (Late Latin) To inhabit (a region).^[9]

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. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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 c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de