Etymologically
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inuro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪˈnuː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iˈnuː.ro][1]

Forms

inūrō (present infinitive inūrere, perfect active inussī, supine inustum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“in, on”) + ūrō (“to burn”).[2][1] De Vaan traces ūrō to Proto-Italic *ouse/o- (“to burn”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁eus-e/o- (“to burn”), comparing Sanskrit ओषति (oṣati, “burns, scorches”) and Ancient Greek εὕω (heúō, “to singe”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest examples are in Lucretius, of marks left by heat, and in Cicero.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is to burn or scorch, as the sun that thins the body in Celsus, and in medicine to cauterize;[2] Quintilian uses it of curling hair with hot tongs.[2] It is to make a mark by burning, and Pliny the Elder uses it of encaustic painting, as the painter Nicias wrote that he had burnt in a picture.[2][5] Above all it is to brand or stamp indelibly, figuratively: Cicero asks Catiline what mark of domestic disgrace has not been branded on his life, and speaks of the censors' mark of shame.[2][5]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of marks made by heat.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the brand of disgrace.[2][4]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus of scorching and cauterizing.[2][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of encaustic painting.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To burn, scorch; to cauterize; to curl hair with hot tongs.[2][5][1]
  2. To imprint by burning; to paint in encaustic.[2][5]
  3. To brand, impress indelibly; to brand with a mark.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press