macer

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈma.kɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmaː.t͡ʃer]^[1]

Forms

macer (feminine macra, neuter macrum, comparative macrior, superlative macerrimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *makro- (“long, lean”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱ-ró- (“long”).^[2][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek μακρός (makrós, “long”), Old English mæger (“lean”) and Old High German magar (“lean”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.^[2][5] Lucilius speaks of lean pigeons.^[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant thin, lean or scraggy, of people and animals, as Varro's lean cows that conceive more easily.^[3] Of soil it meant poor or thin, and Campī Macrī was a district of Cisalpine Gaul.^[3] Macer was also a Roman cognomen, borne by the annalist Licinius Macer and the Augustan poet Aemilius Macer.^[3][6]

Medieval writers used it of lean persons and animals.^[7] It survives in Italian magro, Spanish magro and Old French megre, the source of English meager in the late 14th century.^[1][8] Its derivative ēmaciāre “to make lean” gave English emaciate in the 1620s.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][5]
• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius speaks of lean pigeons.^[3][5]
• late 14th century – English meager is recorded.^[8]
• 1620s – English emaciate is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Thin, lean, scraggy.^[3]
2. (of soil) Poor, thin.^[3]

Word family

• macellus
• maceō
• macor
• macrēscō
• macriculus
• macritās
• macritūdō
• permacer
• commacerō
• ēmacerātus
• ēmacerō

Related words

• ēmacēscō
• ēmaciō
• macēscō
• maciēs
• macilentus
• maciō
• permaceō
• English meager
• English emaciate

Usage notes

Döderlein says that exīlis and macer both blame leanness as want of sap, exīlis of any body, macer especially of animal bodies, as opposed to pinguis.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper