Etymologically
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pinso

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpĩː.soː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpin.so][1]

Forms

pīnsō (present infinitive pīnsere, perfect active pīnsuī or pīnsī, supine pīnsum or pīnsitum or pī̆stum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pins- (“to grind”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pi-n-s- (“to grind”), a nasal present of the root Proto-Indo-European *peys- (“to crush”).[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit पिनष्टि (pináṣṭi, “crushes”), Ancient Greek πτίσσω (ptíssō, “to winnow, pound”) and Lithuanian paisýti (“to thresh”).[2][3] pīlum “pestle” probably comes from *pis-tlo-, as pistillum shows, and the javelin pīlum may be the same word.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose slave will be pounded with the whip.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to pound or crush in a mortar, as grain, and by transfer to beat, as in Plautus, and Ennius' men who beat the earth with their knees, and Persius' stork that pecks from behind.[3][5] A first-conjugation pīnsāre and the form pīsere were also used, and Ennius has an imperfect pīnsibant.[3][6]

Its descendants include Spanish pisar and Romanian pisa.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of beating with a whip.[3][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius has men beating the earth with their knees.[3][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of pounding.[5][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pound, crush (in a mortar).[3]
  2. To beat, strike.[3][5]

Word family

  • pinsitō
  • pīsātiō
  • pistrix
  • pistūra
  • expinsō
  • pī̆stō
  • pī̆stor
  • pistrīna
  • pistrīnum
  • pīla
  • pīlum
  • pīsō
  • English pestle
  • English piston

References

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