perscindo

Forms

perscindō (present infinitive perscindere, perfect active perscidī, supine perscissum); third conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + scindō (“to split, tear”).^[1][3] scindō goes back to Proto-Italic *ski-n-d-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ski-n-d- (“to split, tear off”);^[4] it is cognate with Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the TLL record it first in Lucretius,^[4][3] who uses it of the force of the wind breaking through a cloud and of sails torn by gusts.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Lucretius also uses it of images that are torn apart unless they pass through straight openings.^[3][5] Livy has it of a wind that tore and carried off everything as soldiers tried to pitch camp, and Seneca of fire tearing through clouds.^[3]

In Late Latin the TLL notes a shift towards “destroy, overthrow”, especially in Verecundus, who uses it of synagogues destroyed at the time of the Chaldean siege.^[3] A version of the Visio Pauli uses it of cutting through lips and tongue.^[3]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of wind breaking through clouds.^[3][4][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a wind tearing everything apart.^[3][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of fire tearing clouds.^[3][6]
• before 552 AD – Verecundus uses it for “destroy”.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tear through, rip apart, split.^[1][2]
2. (Late Latin) To destroy.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de