Etymologically
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marceo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmar.ke.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmar.t͡ʃe.o][1]

Forms

marceō (present infinitive marcēre, perfect active marcuī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mark-ē-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-eh₁- (“to be soaked, be weak”).[2][1] De Vaan compares Hittite markiye/a- (“to disapprove of, refuse”) and Sanskrit मर्चयति (marcáyati, “to damage”), and notes that the ⟨a⟩ needs explaining, either by unrounding of an o-grade or by vocalization of the zero grade.[2] The OLD compares Middle Irish mraich (“malt”) and Lithuanian merkiù (“soak”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius, who asks someone whose body is not yet withering with years.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is to be withered or flabby, to droop: Seneca has a sick heart drooping, and Claudian withered garlands.[3][4] More often it is to be enfeebled, weak or faint, as in Lucretius.[3] It is also to be languid, apathetic or idle: Livy has men wasting away through luxury, wine and feasting all winter, and Velleius says that on one side everything was vigorous, on the other everything languid.[4][3] Lewis & Short note that it is not used by Cicero or Caesar.[4] Church Latin glosses it to wither, droop, be faint, grow weak.[5]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a body withering with years.[3][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of men enfeebled by luxury.[4][6]
  • c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius of a languid side in a war.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be withered or flabby, droop, shrivel.[3][4][1]
  2. To be enfeebled, weak, faint.[3][5][1]
  3. To be languid, apathetic, idle, lazy.[3][4][1]

Word family

  • commarceō
  • immarceō
  • marcidus
  • marcor
  • permarceō
  • marcēscō
  • marcēns
  • marculentus
  • marcidulus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de