infundo

Forms

īnfundō (present infinitive īnfundere, perfect active īnfūdī, supine īnfūsum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“in, into”) and fundō (“to pour”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨fundō⟩ to Proto-Italic *χunde/o- and the present Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰu-n-d- (“to pour”), from the root *ǵʰew-, cognate with Sanskrit जुहोति (juhóti, “pours, sacrifices”) and Ancient Greek χέω (khéō, “to pour”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first examples are Plautus' Amphitruo, “a pot of water poured on your head”, and Cato, who has gum poured into water.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is to pour in liquids or free-running solids, as in Cato, to cast statues, to pour food or drink into the mouth, as Virgil's wine poured in through a horn, and to pour something on or over.^[2][5] Cicero uses it of a god “infused” into the world, and Vitruvius of hollow bronze balls filled with water.^[2] It is to send down rain or missiles, as Virgil's storm poured down from above, to spread light or darkness, to let rivers or the sea stream in, and of people to stream in, as Cicero's “foreign ways have poured into our city”.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “pour into, infuse, water, impart”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of pouring water on someone's head.^[2][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato of pouring into water.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of something infused into the world.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of pouring down rain.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – English infuse, from the participle īnfūsus.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pour in, into or on; to cast (metal); to instil, infuse.^[2][1][6]
2. To fill or moisten (with something poured in).^[2]
3. To pour down (rain, missiles); to spread (light, darkness); to cause (water, people) to stream in.^[2][1]

Word family

• īnfundibulum
• īnfūsiō
• infusor
• infusorium
• infūsus
• praeinfundo
• superinfundō

Related words

• fundō
• effundō
• perfundō
• English infuse

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ 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. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com