Etymologically
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instillo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ĩːˈstiːl.loː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [inˈstil.lo][1]

Forms

īnstīllō (present infinitive īnstīllāre, perfect active īnstīllāvī, supine īnstīllātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + stīllō (“to fall in drops, drip”),[2][3][4] and stīllō is formed from stīlla (“drop”).[1][5] De Vaan takes stīlla as perhaps a diminutive of stīria (“icicle”), from Proto-Italic *stī/eir-(lā-), and finds the usual comparison with words for “stiff” unfounded.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan has it from Cato on,[5] who in his treatise on farming prescribes juice to be dripped warm into the ear.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is to pour in drop by drop:[2] Cicero uses it of oil dripped into a lamp, as an image of the mind kept alive in old age,[2][6] Horace of oil on cabbages, and Ovid of wine poured on a fire.[2][7] Medical writers such as Celsus and Pliny the Elder use it of drops for the ears and eyes.[2][4] In Cicero's verse translation of Aeschylus it means to drip on to: drops that drip steadily on the rocks of the Caucasus.[2]

Figuratively it means to instil little by little: Cicero says a letter put a little life into him, and Horace advises dropping a precept into someone's ears.[2][6] Seneca uses it of instilling virtue in minds;[2] Christian writers use it of God instilling the beginning of mercy and of the devil instilling evil.[4][8] Medieval texts use it of pharmacy and medicine, of giving to drink and of inspiring or whispering.[9] English instill (early 15th century) comes from it.[10]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of dripping juice into the ear.[2][11]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of oil in a lamp, of a letter that revives him, and of drops on a rock.[2][11]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a precept dropped into the ears.[2][11]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of medicine dropped in.[4][11]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as instill.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pour in drop by drop, drop in.[2][6]
  2. (figurative) To introduce little by little, instill, inspire.[2][6]
  3. To drip on to.[2][6]

Word family

  • instillātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de