Etymologically
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perexiguus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛ.rɛkˈsɪ.ɡu.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pe.reɡˈziː.ɡu.us][1]

Forms

perexiguus (feminine perexigua, neuter perexiguum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + exiguus (“small, scanty”), with the intensive prefix.[2][3] De Vaan derives the simple adjective from exigō (“to drive out”), a compound of agō (“to drive”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *ag-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-e/o- (“to drive, lead”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the TLL record it first in Cicero;[5][3] in the De natura deorum he uses it of a tiny seed.[6]

Semantic evolution

The TLL counts eight instances in Cicero and three in Caesar, and finds it only in prose.[3] It is used of size or amount, as of a very small space in Caesar or of silver in Livy, of time, as Cicero's dies perexiguus, a very short time limit, and of things of very slight importance.[2][6][7] The neuter is used as an adverb,[8] and Cicero has the adverb perexiguē, “very sparingly”.[6] Medieval British writers use it of meagre food and of small amounts.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a tiny seed and a very short time limit.[6][7][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a very small space.[6][8][5]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses it of a small amount of silver.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Very small in size or amount, tiny, minute.[2][6]
  2. (of time) Very brief.[2][7]
  3. Of very slight importance, petty.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ 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