mire

Forms

mīrē (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mīrus (“wonderful”) + -ē.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces mīrus to Proto-Italic *smeiro- and Proto-Indo-European *sméi-ro- (“laughter”): the meaning is hard to reach from “laughing”, but Vine solves this by taking the noun-like mīrum as the oldest form, an old collective “laughter”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Conte quotes it first from Terence,^[5] who has a son fashioned wonderfully to his father's mind.^[3] Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It means in a remarkable way or to a remarkable degree, amazingly.^[2][1] Cicero has weeping wonderfully pitiable and Livy something extremely welcome to the king.^[5][3] The phrase mīrē quam is “it is amazing how”: Cicero writes that it is amazing how not only the use but even the thought of a place delights him.^[2][3][5]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence.^[5][3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of pitiable weeping and mīrē quam.^[5][3][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of something very welcome.^[5][3][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Wondrously, amazingly, remarkably; exceedingly.^[2][1][3]
2. mīrē quam, it is amazing how, wonderfully.^[2][3]

Related words

• mīrus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de