Etymologically
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mehercule

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [meˈ(ɦ)ɛr.kʊ.ɫeː], [meˈ(ɦ)ɛr.kʊ.ɫɛ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [meˈɛr.ku.le][1]

Forms

mehercule (interjection)[2][1] It is also found as mehercle and meherculēs, and written separately.[2] Cicero preferred mehercule to meherculēs.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin mē + Herculēs, “by Hercules”.[2] Festus explains it as an oath with “so may Hercules help me” understood;[2][1] Wiktionary takes it as short for ⟨adiuva mē Hercule⟩.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is Plautus' Rudens, in the form ⟨mehercle⟩: “well done, by Hercules”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is an oath, “by Hercules!”, expressing surprise, annoyance or emphasis, and was normally used by men;[2][1] Phaedrus and Seneca have it in the mouth of women.[2][1] Cato, Cicero, Catullus, Sallust and later prose writers use it, often in negations, as Cicero's “you would not, by Hercules, have said a word”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[2][3]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, who prefers it to meherculēs.[2][3]

Meanings

Interjection

  1. By Hercules! (an oath, chiefly of men).[2][1]

Usage notes

The shorter hercle is the same oath without the pronoun.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de