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mansuesco

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word mansuesco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (manus,suēscō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mansuesco
Latin mansuetus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mãːˈsʷeːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [manˈsʷɛs.ko][1]

Forms

mānsuēscō (present infinitive mānsuēscere, perfect active mānsuēvī, supine mānsuētum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of the stem of manus (“hand”) and suēscō (“to become accustomed”), literally “to accustom to the hand”.[2][1][3] The TLL compares cōnsuēscō.[4] De Vaan traces suēscō to Proto-Italic *swē(þ)-sk-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sue(h1-)dhh1- (“to make one's own, get accustomed”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Varro and Lucretius on, not in Cicero or Caesar.[4] Varro writes of wild animals caught and shut up so that they would grow tame.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is mainly intransitive, of wild beasts becoming tame, as Seneca says dumb animals grow tame towards those who feed them.[2] Lucretius applies it to wild fruits that grow tame through careful cultivation, and to seawater that grows less harsh as it filters through earth.[2][3] Of persons and passions it is to grow mild or gentle: Virgil speaks of hearts that cannot soften at human prayers.[2] The transitive use, to tame, is in Varro and Late Latin, as Corippus' tigers.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of taming wild animals.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of wild fruits grown tame.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of hearts that will not soften.[2]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of animals growing tame.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To become tame; of plants or soil, to become cultivated.[2][3][1]
  2. To grow mild, gentle; of things, to grow less harsh.[2][1]
  3. (transitive) To tame.[2][3][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Mansuesco.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/mansuesco. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·