Etymologically
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incursito

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋˈkʊr.sɪ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋˈkur.si.to][1]

Forms

incursitō (present infinitive incursitāre, perfect active incursitāvī, supine incursitātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin incursō (“to attack, run against”) + -itō, a frequentative verb.[2][3][4] De Vaan lists that verb among the derivatives of currō (“to run”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *korse/o- and Proto-Indo-European *krs-e/o- (“to run”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, of someone attacking friends and enemies alike, in omnēs amīcōs et inimīcōs incursitāns, where some manuscripts read incursāns.[2]

Semantic evolution

Seneca uses it of attacking again and again: in On the Happy Life he tells those who enjoy their foul licence to attack one another, and in On Anger he pictures anger as charging, laying waste and routing.[2][3][6] He also uses it of bumping into people by accident in the crowded streets of the city,[2][3] and, figuratively, of stumbling all through life: tōtā vītā incursitāmus.[2][6]

Timeline

  • Undated – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of attacking friends and enemies.[2]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of repeated attacks and of bumping into people.[2][3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make frequent attacks (on), charge at.[2][3][6]
  2. To keep bumping (into); (figurative) to stumble.[2][3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de