Etymologically
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lympho

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈlym.pʰoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlim.fo][1]

Forms

lymphō (present infinitive lymphāre, perfect active lymphāvī, supine lymphātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lympha (“water; water nymph”) + -ō.[2][1] The OLD takes that noun as apparently an adaptation of Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride, young girl; spring water”) by dissimilation;[2] Wiktionary and Saalfeld simply derive it from the Greek word.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle lymphātus, “frantic, beside oneself”, is found in Livy, Virgil and Horace.[4] The OLD's first quotation for the verb is Pliny the Elder on a herb whose drink makes people frenzied, with visions before them (hāc pōtā lymphārī hominēs obversantibus mīrāculīs).[2][4] Köbler dates Pliny the Elder 23/24–79 AD.[5]

Semantic evolution

Valerius Flaccus and Statius use it of driving cities mad with fear, and Pliny the Elder has the present participle of frenzied minds.[4][2] Caelius Aurelianus uses it, in the sense of the noun, of wine diluted with water (vīnō lymphātō, id est, aquā temperātō).[4]

Timeline

  • 1st century BC – Livy, Virgil and Horace use the participle lymphātus.[4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of frenzy.[2][4][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of driving cities mad.[4][5]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of diluting wine with water.[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To drive crazy, derange, distract with fear.[2][4]
  2. (passive, present participle) To be in a frenzy.[2][4]
  3. (medicine) To dilute with water.[4][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de