Etymologically
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liqueo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈlɪ.kʷe.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.kʷe.o][1]

Forms

liqueō (present infinitive liquēre, perfect active līquī or līcuī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is a stative verb inherited from Proto-Italic *(w)likw-ē- (“to be liquid”), from Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ- (“to make moist”).[2][1] Cognate with Old Irish fliuch (“moist”), Welsh gwlith (“dew”) and Tocharian B laikanatär (“washes”).[2][3] liquor “fluid” and liquidus “liquid” belong to the same set, the deponent līquor (“to melt”) continues the active verb, and the old nasal present survives in pollingō.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose slave says whatever was doubtful before is now clear.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Its physical sense was to be liquid or molten, mostly in the participle liquēns “flowing”, as Varro's liquids and Virgil's flowing waves, and to be limpid or clear.[3][5] Most often it was impersonal, liquet “it is clear, evident”, as in Plautus and in the jurors' verdict nōn liquet “it is not clear”, which left a case undecided.[3][5] Liquet mihi with an infinitive meant “I see my way clear to”.[3]

Döderlein says liquēre refers to the nature of a fluid, unlike fluere and mānāre.[6] Liquidus gave English liquid in the late 14th century, liquor gave English liquor about 1200, and liquefacere gave English liquefy.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus says everything is now clear.[3][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of liquids, rēs liquentēs.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the verdict nōn liquet.[5][4]
  • c. 1200 – English liquor is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be liquid, molten.[3]
  2. To be limpid, clear.[3]
  3. (impersonal) liquet, it is clear, evident, nōn liquet, it is not proven.[3][5]
  4. liquet mihi, I see my way clear (to).[3]

Word family

  • liquefaciō
  • liquefio
  • liquēscō
  • liquidus
  • liquor
  • liquēns
  • liquefactiō
  • liquidē
  • liquiditās
  • liquidiusculus
  • liquidō
  • lixa
  • pollingō
  • English liquid
  • English liquor

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes fluere (to flow, of motion), mānāre (to flow out) and liquēre (to be fluid, of the nature of the substance).[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com