pauso

Forms

pausō (present infinitive pausāre, perfect active pausāvī, supine pausātum); first conjugation, no passive^[1]

Etymology

According to the TLL and the DMLBS it is borrowed from Ancient Greek παῦσαι (paûsai, “to stop”), the aorist infinitive of παύω (paúō, “to stop, make cease”); the TLL compares malaxō.^[2][3] Wiktionary instead derives it from pausa (“pause, stop”) with the verb ending -ō.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from the 4th century, mainly in Christian and medical writing, as in the Old Latin Gospel of Matthew, where the virgins waiting for the bridegroom rest.^[2] An older reading pausa in Plautus' Trinummus 187 has been replaced by the Greek παῦσαι (paûsai) of manuscript A, which recent editors prefer.^[2][4] Köbler lists it already in the pseudo-Quintilian declamations, dated with a query to the 2nd century AD.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Caelius Aurelianus uses it of pain and vomiting that stop,^[6][4] and the Vulgate has pausa et quiesce, populus meus, “rest and be quiet, my people” (4 Esdras 2:24).^[6][7] Christian inscriptions use it of the dead resting in the grave, and Cassian of dying.^[6][4][8] Medieval Latin used it for halting on a journey, taking a midday rest, sleeping, being buried or dead, and, transitively, for setting something down;^[9] in music it meant to rest.^[3] The transitive sense gave Old French poser, which took over the meaning of Latin pōnō in compounds;^[10] English pose comes from it.^[10] The TLL lists Italian posare, French poser, Spanish posar and Portuguese pousar.^[2]

Timeline

• 4th century AD – The Old Latin Bible and Chiron use it.^[2][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in 4 Esdras for resting.^[6][4][5]
• c. 360–c. 435 AD – Cassian uses it of dying.^[8][5]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of pain that stops.^[6][4][5]
• first third of the 8th century – Bede uses it of a nun resting in the dormitory.^[3][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows pose through Old French.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To halt, cease, pause; to rest.^[6][4][7][2]
2. (of pain or illness) To abate, stop.^[6][4]
3. (Late Latin) To rest in the grave; to die.^[6][4][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) To stay overnight; to take a midday rest; to sleep.^[9][3]
5. (Medieval Latin) To be buried; to be dead.^[9]
6. (Medieval Latin, transitive) To set down, put.^[9]
7. (Medieval Latin, music) To rest.^[3]

Word family

• pausabilis
• pausātiō
• repausō
• pausātus

Related words

• pausa
• pausārius
• pausātē
• English pose
• English pause

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com