intente

Forms

intentē (comparative intentius, superlative intentissimē)^[1][2] Fronto has the comparative intensius.^[1][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin intentus (“intent, attentive”) + -ē,^[1] from the participle of intendō (“to stretch, direct”).^[4][5] De Vaan lists intendō among the compounds of tendō (“to stretch”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *tend- and Proto-Indo-European *ten-d(h)- (“to stretch”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *ten-.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cornificius,^[5] that is, the Rhetorica ad Herennium, where it means attentively.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Its meanings are with close attention and with strain or vigour.^[1][7] Livy uses the comparative of warning someone more urgently and preparing a war more energetically,^[7] and Tacitus of pressing a siege harder.^[7] Seneca writes that he has written more attentively than usual,^[3] Pliny the Younger of delivering a speech with energy and insistence,^[7] and Quintilian of being listened to intently.^[7] The Vulgate has it of watching someone closely, Ammianus of looking more closely,^[7] and Lampridius has the superlative intentissimē.^[7][2]

Timeline

• 3rd quarter of the 1st century BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[5][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of urging and preparing more energetically.^[7][2][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of listening intently.^[7][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, of close watching.^[7][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. With concentrated attention, attentively, intently.^[1][7][3]
2. With effort or force, energetically, urgently.^[7][2]

Related words

• intentus
• intendō
• tendō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn