obstringo

Forms

obstringō (present infinitive obstringere, perfect active obstrīnxī, supine obstrictum); third conjugation^[1] It is also spelled opstringō.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from ob- (“around, against”) and stringō (“to tie, draw tight”).^[2][1] De Vaan explains the senses of ⟨stringō⟩ as a merger of two PIE roots, and notes that all its compounds have the sense “to tie, tighten”, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ-e/o- (“to draw, tie”), cognate with Old Norse strengja (“to bind together”) and Ancient Greek στραγγός (strangós, “twisted”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[3] who has someone dragged off by a rope drawn tight around the neck, and a purse tied on to the neck.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From tying tightly around something it came to mean holding in check, as Horace's winds kept bound except the one that is to blow.^[2] Its main use is figurative: to put someone under a legal or moral obligation, to bind by an oath or agreement, as Caesar's state bound by oath not to ask for its hostages back, or by gratitude and loyalty, as Cicero's man bound with gifts.^[2][4] It is also to involve someone in a crime or in debt, and in the jurists to make liable to an action.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “oblige, bind”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a rope tight around the neck.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of people bound by laws and of a man implicated in crimes.^[2][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of a state bound by oath.^[2][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of winds held bound.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To draw tight around, constrict; to tie firmly on.^[2][4][1]
2. To hold in check, confine.^[2]
3. To place under a legal or moral obligation, bind by oath or gratitude.^[2][1][5]
4. To involve or implicate in a crime or in debt.^[2]
5. (law) To make liable to someone or to an action.^[2]

Related words

• stringō
• astringō
• restringō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de