pertenuis

Forms

pertenuis (neuter pertenue); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + tenuis (“thin”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan traces that adjective to Proto-Italic *tn̥(a)u- and Proto-Indo-European *tnh₂-(e)u- (“thin”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[5] who uses it six times, mostly figuratively; the TLL notes that it is rare elsewhere.^[3] In On the Orator he says that the art of speaking seems to him either non-existent or very slight.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it of a very slight suspicion, a very slender hope of safety and a flimsy piece of evidence.^[2][6] In the literal sense of something very thin or fine, Pliny the Elder quotes it from Cato of very fine sand, words not found in Cato's book on farming.^[3][6] Later authors use it of small feet, a meagre inheritance and a scanty daily living.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a slight art, suspicion and hope.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder quotes it from Cato of fine sand.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Very thin, narrow or fine.^[2][6]
2. (figurative) Very slight, trifling, faint.^[2][6]

Related words

• tenuis

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press