obrigesco

Forms

obrigēscō (present infinitive obrigēscere, perfect active obriguī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- + rigēscō (“to grow stiff”),^[2][1][3] the inchoative of rigeō (“to be stiff”).^[4] The TLL derives it from ⟨ob⟩ and that verb, noting that the simple ⟨rigēscere⟩ is not found before Virgil.^[5] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *rig-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *Hriǵ-eh₁- (“to be stretched, be stiff”), a stative verb from a root meaning “to stretch”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius uses it of something that stiffens with cold, pars obrigēscit frīgore;^[2][4] a fragment ascribed to Pacuvius, on fruit frozen by frost, may be earlier.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It means to become stiff, especially with cold: Cicero speaks of regions of the earth frozen with snow and frost,^[2][7] and Columella uses it of winter cold.^[2] Without an ablative it was said of stiffening from cold, disease or death: Cicero tells how Sopater was carried off barely alive from the statue of Gaius Marcellus when he had almost frozen stiff,^[7][2] Seneca speaks of stiffening joints, and Apuleius of a body grown stiff after death.^[2] Tibullus uses it of milk that curdles.^[2][8]

Figuratively it meant to harden oneself or become unfeeling, as in Seneca's letters.^[7][9][8] The TLL calls it rare in the early writers and more common from Gellius and Apuleius on.^[5] The Vulgate uses it of a hand that grew stiff on the sword.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of stiffening with cold.^[2][10]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of frozen regions and of a man stiff with cold.^[2][10]
• c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus uses it of curdling milk.^[2][10]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it figuratively of hardening oneself.^[7][10]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a hand stiffened on a sword.^[4][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become stiff, especially with cold; to freeze.^[2][4][8]
2. To grow stiff through cold, disease or death.^[2]
3. Of milk: to curdle.^[2][8]
4. (figurative) To become hardened or unfeeling.^[7][9][8]

Related words

• rigeō
• rigidus
• rigor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de