incumbo

Forms

incumbō (present infinitive incumbere, perfect active incubuī, supine incubitum); third conjugation, no passive^[1] Its perfect incubuī has the same form as the perfect of incubō “to lie on”.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“on, upon”) and ⟨*cumbō⟩, a nasal present of cubō (“to lie down”) that is found only in compounds such as accumbō, dēcumbō and prōcumbō.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius asks whether a man should hang himself or fall on his sword (in gladium incumbat).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Physically it is to lean or bend over, to throw oneself down on something, as Ovid's Niobe falls on her children's bodies, and to lean on something for support (Livy: soldiers leaning on their shields held off the Romans).^[2] With force it is to press on, as the Roman line pressed on the enemy with its weight, and to fall on one's sword; of things it is to weigh on, and of duties to fall on someone (Ulpian).^[2] Natural forces and misfortunes incumbunt when they fall violently on a place or a people, as Curtius' sea that bears down on the shore.^[2]

Its most common figurative sense is to apply oneself vigorously to something, as Cicero urges his hearers to throw themselves into the study of oratory, and Virgil's bees all set about repairing their ruined race.^[2][3] Church Latin glosses it “recline, lean on, apply to”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius of falling on a sword.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of trees pressing on one another in the wind.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of applying oneself to study.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of leaning on shields and pressing on the enemy.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lean or bend over; to throw oneself down (on).^[2][1][4]
2. To lean (on) for support, recline.^[2][1]
3. To press (on), bear down; to fall (on a sword); (of duties) to fall (on).^[2][1]
4. (of natural forces, misfortunes) To fall violently (on).^[2]
5. To apply oneself, devote oneself (to).^[2][1][4]

Word family

• incumba
• superincumbō

Related words

• cubō
• incubō
• accumbō
• prōcumbō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de