miseresco

Forms

miserēscō (present infinitive miserēscere); third conjugation, no passive, no perfect or supine stems^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin misereō (“to pity”) + -ēscō, an inchoative verb.^[2][1][3] The base verb comes from miser (“wretched”),^[1] which de Vaan reconstructs as Proto-Italic *misro-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂isro-; he finds no acceptable Indo-European pedigree, and thinks a link with maereō (“to grieve”) possible.^[4] Ancient grammarians debated whether it came from the active verb or from the deponent misereor;^[3] Priscian prefers the active.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus,^[4] used impersonally in the Trinummus,^[2][5] and in the Epidicus, where Lewis & Short take it in the sense “to become wretched”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Terence has the impersonal construction in a plea for pity.^[2][6][7] Lewis & Short note that the personal use is only poetic:^[6] Catullus asks whether any mercy could move a cruel heart to pity, and Virgil has “pity the king”;^[2][7] it is also found in Valerius Flaccus and Statius,^[2] and Prudentius has the imperative miserēscitō.^[5] The grammarian Charisius notes that it has no perfect, because an inchoative verb cannot be perfective.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it impersonally.^[2][8]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it impersonally in a plea for pity.^[2][8]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it as a personal verb.^[2][8]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it as a personal verb.^[2][8]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses the imperative.^[5][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (with genitive) To feel pity (for), have compassion (on).^[2][6]
2. (impersonal, with accusative and genitive) To move to pity: mē miserēscit, I feel sorry (for).^[2][6]
3. To become wretched.^[6]

Word family

• commiserēscō

Related words

• misereor
• miser

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. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de