incanto

Forms

incantō (present infinitive incantāre, perfect active incantāvī, supine incantātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin in- + cantō (“to sing, chant”).^[2][3] Its descendants include Italian incantare, French enchanter and Spanish encantar.^[3] Through Old French enchanter it is the source of English enchant.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is in the Twelve Tables, in the law against anyone who “chanted an evil spell” (QVI MALVM CARMEN INCANTASSET), as quoted by Pliny the Elder;^[5][2] the sense is to utter a spell against someone.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the uttering of magic formulas it came to mean to bewitch a person or thing, and to give an object magic power by spells: Horace has incantata vincula, love-knots tied with spells.^[2][5] Apuleius also uses it, with the dative, in the literal sense of singing in a place, of a sparrow singing in a hedge.^[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to sing over, consecrate, charm or enchant.^[6] Medieval writers used it for charming or conjuring, for winning someone over by coaxing, and for simply singing.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables forbid chanting an evil spell (incantassit).^[2][8]
• 65–8 BC – Horace writes of objects endowed with spells (incantata vincula).^[2][8]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a sparrow singing in a hedge.^[2][8]
• late 14th century – Its Old French descendant is borrowed into English as enchant.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put a spell on, bewitch, enchant; without an object, to utter magic spells.^[2][5]
2. To give something supernatural powers by spells.^[2][5]
3. With the dative, to sing in or on a place.^[2][5]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To sing over, consecrate.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin) To win over by coaxing, to charm.^[7]

Word family

• incantāmentum
• incantātiō
• incantātor

Usage notes

A separate medieval verb incanto, formed from in and quantum (compare Italian incantare “to auction”), meant to fix as a measure, to fine, and to sell at auction; it is recorded in the Genoese annals.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de