lente

Forms

lentē (comparative lentius, superlative lentissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lentus (“pliant; slow”) + -ē.^[2][1] De Vaan traces lentus to Proto-Italic *lento- (“soft”) and Proto-Indo-European *lent-o- (“soft, smooth, pliant”).^[3] He compares Lithuanian lentà (“board, plank”) and Old High German lindi (“soft, mild”), and explains Old High German linta (“linden”) by the tree's soft wood.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest quotation is from the comedian Afranius, of someone who deals with the speaker slowly and makes fun of him.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is slowly, at leisure: Cicero writes of a man who used to speak more slowly.^[2][4] It can mean tardily, with delay, and also coolly, without emotion: Cicero finds it witty to answer calmly what the questioners do not want to hear.^[2] The phrase ⟨lentē ferre⟩ is to take something calmly.^[2]

Timeline

• 2nd half of 2nd century BC – Afranius of slow and teasing treatment.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of slow speech and calm answers.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Slowly; at leisure, without haste.^[2][1]
2. With delay, tardily.^[2]
3. Without emotion, coolly, calmly;^[2] lentē ferre, to take calmly.^[2]

Related words

• lentus
• lentitūdō

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de