Etymologically
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interfluo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪnˈtɛr.fɫu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [inˈtɛr.flu.o][1]

Forms

interfluō (present infinitive interfluere, perfect active interflūxī); third conjugation, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inter- + fluō (“to flow”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces fluō to Proto-Italic *flow-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰleuH- (“to flow (over)”), comparing Ancient Greek φλέω (phléō, “to abound”) and φλύω (phlúō, “to seethe, boil over”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Livy on, a split form in Lucretius being doubtful.[3] Livy uses it of a torrent with little water flowing between banks, and of the strait that flows between Naupactus and Patrae.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is said of rivers and straits flowing between or through places, without an object or with one: Pliny the Elder has a narrow strait flowing between, and Tacitus the river Weser flowing past the Romans, and Florus the Tiber flowing through the city.[2][5] Tacitus also uses it of things floating in among others: pack animals, baggage and dead bodies drift among the soldiers.[2] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[5]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a strait and a torrent.[2][3][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a narrow strait.[5][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of things floating among others.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of rivers or straits, to flow between or through; with an object, to flow between (places).[2][5][1]
  2. To float in among.[2]

Word family

  • interfluus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de