marcidus

Forms

marcidus (feminine marcida, neuter marcidum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin marceō (“to wither, droop”) + -idus.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *mark-ē- and, if it belongs with the forms he compares, to Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-eh₁- (“to be soaked, be weak”).^[4] He prefers a zero grade in the verb because the close synonyms murcidus (“lazy”) and muricidus (“faint-hearted”) seem to continue an o-grade.^[4]

Among the cognates he lists are Lithuanian mir̃kti (“to become weak, soaked”) and Lithuanian mer̃kti (“to soak”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Ovid,^[5] who has withered lilies hanging their heads (marcida demittunt … caput).^[2][6] Lewis & Short also cite Vitruvius, for rafters that become marcidi with age.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is drooping, withered or rotten, of plants, of an animal's limp ears in Pliny the Elder and of foul pools in Claudian.^[2][7][6] Of people it means enfeebled or exhausted: Valerius Maximus speaks of a marcida senectus, a decrepit old age,^[2][6] Tacitus of men marcidi from sleep or from nights of debauchery,^[7] and Apuleius of eyes languid with desire.^[7][6] In Seneca it is apathetic or languid, of a man weakened by pleasures and too much good fortune,^[2] and Statius applies it to things that bring languor, such as wine.^[2]

Medieval writers in Britain use it of withered bodies, of animals spent with age and of fading flowers, and figuratively of meagre things.^[8] Conte gives it as the source of Italian marcio.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of rafters decayed with age.^[7][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of withered lilies.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a man made languid by pleasure.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of men weakened by sleep or debauchery.^[7][5]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius speaks of eyes libidine marcidi.^[7][6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Withered, drooping, limp; rotten, decayed.^[2][7][9]
2. Enfeebled, exhausted, weak; also of things that bring on weakness.^[2][7]
3. Apathetic, languid.^[2][1]

Word family

• marcidulus

Related words

• marcēns
• marceō
• marcēscō
• marcor
• marculentus
• Italian marcio

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson