Etymologically
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missilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmɪs.sɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmis.si.lis][1]

Forms

missilis (neuter missile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mittō (“to send, throw”) + -ilis, built on the participle ⟨missus⟩.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces mittō to Proto-Italic *meit-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”), whose sense developed from "exchange" to "give" and "let go, send".[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Varro.[5] Lewis & Short note that it is not found in Cicero or Caesar.[6]

Semantic evolution

It means that is or may be thrown or shot:[2] Livy has sling stones and a missile weapon, Virgil a javelin, Horace arrows,[6] and Statius a spear that only one man can throw;[6] Pliny the Elder uses it of the porcupine's quills, which it can shoot out.[6] As a neuter noun missile is a missile weapon, a javelin: Livy says the Spartans fought with missiles, and Virgil has warriors attacking and driving off with them.[6] The plural missilia or rēs missilēs were gifts the emperors threw among the people: Suetonius tells of gifts of every kind scattered for Nero's people and of Augustus allowing the scramble for fruit and food.[6] Seneca uses it figuratively of the gifts Fortune scatters.[6]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro, its first use.[5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a javelin.[6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of sling stones and missiles.[6]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of gifts thrown to the people.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. That is or may be thrown or shot, missile.[2][6][1]

Noun

  1. (neuter) A missile weapon, javelin.[6]
  2. (neuter plural) Gifts thrown among the people by the emperors.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press