Etymologically
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pedetemptim

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pɛ.dɛˈtɛmp.tĩː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [pe.deˈtɛmp.tim][1]

Forms

pedetemptim (comparative pedetemptius, superlative pedetemptissimē)[1] Also spelled pedetentim.[2] Fronto has a one-off comparative pedetemptius.[3]

Etymology

It is from the ablative ⟨pede⟩ of pēs “foot” and an adverb from temptō “to feel, try”, with -im, so “feeling one's way with the foot”.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite Plautus' Miles gloriosus, and the TLL explains its original use as of one who tests the ground with his foot.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant step by step, slowly, cautiously, literally as in Plautus, Pacuvius and Livy's elephants searching for fords, and figuratively by degrees, gradually, as in Lucilius, Cicero and Quintilian.[3][2][6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][5]
  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it.[2][6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively.[2][5]
  • 100–170 AD – Fronto forms a comparative of it.[3][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Step by step; cautiously, gradually.[3][2]

Usage notes

Lewis & Short give paulātim and sēnsim as synonyms, and Gaffiot notes that pedetentim is the more usual spelling, especially in early Latin.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.