intercapedo

Forms

intercapēdō f (genitive intercapēdinis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inter- + capiō (“to take”) + -ēdō.^[2][3] Wiktionary analyses it as inter- and capēdō.^[1] Priscian derived it from intercapiō,^[3] and Festus explained it as time cut off, when there is a delay before something can be taken.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The comic poet Turpilius has it first, of a delay: intercapēdine interficior, dēsīderiō differor, “I am killed by the delay, torn apart by longing”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means a break in continuity, an interruption or interval, and a delay or respite:^[2][4] Cicero speaks of a pause in writing and of relief from trouble, and Suetonius of an interruption of the courts.^[4] From Apuleius on it is also used of space, a gap,^[2][4] the sense medieval Latin kept for distance.^[6]

The TLL records the spelling ⟨intercapido⟩ in manuscripts of Tertullian and in glossaries.^[3]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – Turpilius uses it of a delay.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a pause in writing.^[4][5]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of an interruption of the courts.^[4][5]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a gap in space.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A break in continuity, intermission, interruption.^[2][4]
2. An interval, delay, respite.^[2][4]
3. An interval of space, a gap;^[2][6] (Medieval Latin) distance.^[2][6]

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from interruptiō: intercapēdō is a quiet, often kindly interruption of someone's business, interruptiō a violent one, while interpellātiō interrupts only a speech.^[7] Lewis and Short note that in the nominative singular it was said to have an obscene sense, citing Cicero and Quintilian.^[4]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper