interquiesco

Forms

interquiēscō (present infinitive interquiēscere, perfect active interquiēvī); third conjugation, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inter- + quiēscō (“to rest”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan explains quiēscō as a present built on the noun quiēs (“rest”), on the model of verbs such as gnōscō.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example is in Cato's De agri cultura, in a remedy: bibe, interquiesce, “drink, then rest a while”, before the next dose.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it of pausing in speech: cum haec dixissem et paulum interquievissem, “when I had said this and paused a little”.^[2][6] Seneca applies it to pain that lets up for a time, and Pliny the Younger to lawsuits.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of resting between doses.^[2][3][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a pause in speaking.^[2][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of pain that eases.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rest between periods of activity, rest a while.^[2][6]
2. To pause, cease for a time (in speaking; of pain, activities).^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de