Etymologically
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obtrunco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔpˈtrʊŋ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [obˈtruŋ.ko][1]

Forms

obtruncō (present infinitive obtruncāre, perfect active obtruncāvī, supine obtruncātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled optruncō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ob- + truncō (“to lop, maim”).[2][1] The TLL derives it from ob and truncus.[3] De Vaan thinks the oldest form of this word was an adjective, maimed or stripped of branches or head, and finds no convincing outside connection.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[4] In the OLD's earliest quotation Plautus says that Amphitruo killed King Pterelas with his own hand.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is usually to cut to pieces, slaughter, kill;[6][2] Lewis & Short note that Cicero and Caesar do not use it, and give trucīdō, iugulō and occīdō as synonyms.[6][2] The rare literal sense, to lop the top off a plant, is in Columella, of cutting back a grafted vine.[2][6] Manuscripts spell it ⟨optr-⟩ and ⟨obstr-⟩, and Ammianus has short perfect forms.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of killing a king.[2][4][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of cutting back a vine.[2][6][5]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses the short perfect.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cut to pieces, slaughter, butcher, kill.[2][6][1]
  2. To lop or prune the top of a plant.[2][6][1]

Word family

  • obtruncātiō

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 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 c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press