irretio

Forms

irrētiō (present infinitive irrētīre, perfect active irrētīvī or irrētiī, supine irrētītum); fourth conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“in”) + rēte (“net”) + -iō, “to get into a net”.^[2][1][3] The noun rēte goes back to Proto-Italic *rēti-.^[4]

The manuscripts spell it with ⟨inr-⟩ and ⟨irr-⟩ indiscriminately.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use, in Lucilius, is already figurative: sī laqueīs, manicīs, pedicīs mēns irrētīta est, “if the mind is caught in snares, manacles and fetters”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense, to catch in a net or entangle, appears in Cicero, of a man hampered by his cloak,^[6] and in Columella, of soil matted with roots as if netted.^[5] More often the word is figurative: Cicero speaks of someone ensnared corruptēlārum illecebrīs, “by the lures of corruption”, and of people caught in the snares of the Stoics' arguments.^[5][6] Köbler's first author is Cicero.^[7]

In Late Latin it also meant to hinder, as in Ammianus.^[5] Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for “ensnare, trap, embarrass” and “punish”.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a mind caught in snares.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it literally and figuratively.^[5][7]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of soil entangled by roots.^[5][7]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it for hindering one another.^[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To catch in a net, entangle.^[2][5]
2. (figurative) To ensnare, entrap (with temptations, arguments or difficulties).^[2][5]
3. (Late Latin) To hinder, embarrass.^[5][8]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To punish.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b 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 f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson