Etymologically
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macer

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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
  • 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