Etymologically
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inveterasco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪn.wɛ.tɛˈraːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iɱ.ve.teˈras.ko][1]

Forms

inveterāscō (present infinitive inveterāscere, perfect active inveterāvī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1] It is also spelled inveterēscō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin inveterō (“to make old”) + -scō, an inchoative verb;[2][1] the TLL derives it from in- and vetus (“old”), compare veterāscō.[3] De Vaan traces vetus to Proto-Italic *wetos- (“year”) and Proto-Indo-European *uet-os- (“year”), cognate with Ancient Greek ἔτος (étos, “year”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence has it first, in the Hecyra: the speaker made new plays become established.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to grow old, and especially to improve with age: Nigidius distinguished it from vetustīscō, of things that get worse with age, and Pliny the Elder uses it of wine and nard.[2] More often it is to become long-standing, fixed or customary, as Cicero's harmful opinion that had taken root and Caesar's custom that was not to be allowed to become established; of diseases it is to become chronic.[2] Caesar also uses it of soldiers grown used to a place by long service.[6] The spelling ⟨inveterēscō⟩ occurs in an inscription and in Jerome.[3] Stelten gives “grow old”.[7]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence, of plays becoming established.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of an opinion taking root.[2][5]
  • c. 100–45 BC – Nigidius, of improving with age.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar, of a custom becoming established.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To grow old, age; especially, to improve with age, mature.[2][6][1][7]
  2. To become long-standing, established or customary; of diseases, to become chronic.[2][6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson