Etymologically
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plecto

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɫɛk.toː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈplɛk.to][1]

Forms

plectō (present infinitive plectere, perfect active plexī or plexuī, supine plexum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *plekt-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-t-e/o- (“to plait, twine”), an inherited verb also found in Germanic and Balto-Slavic.[2][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek πλέκω (plékō, “to braid, twine”), Sanskrit प्रश्न (praśna, “turban”), Old Church Slavonic плести (plesti, “to plait”) and Old High German flehtan (“to plait”).[2][3] plicō “to fold” is a back-formation from compounds of the same root.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Laevius uses it.[2] Köbler dates Laevius to the 2nd or 1st century BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Latin the simple verb was rare and mostly poetic, used chiefly in the participle: to plait, braid or twine.[3][5] In the Vulgate it was to curl the hair.[6]

Its compounds were far more common: amplector and complector “to embrace”.[2] English complex comes from complexus, the participle of complectī.[7]

Timeline

  • 2nd/1st century BC – Laevius uses it.[2][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of curling hair.[6][4]
  • 1650s – English complex is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To plait, braid, twine.[3][5]
  2. To twist, bend.[1]

Word family

  • plectibilis
  • dēplector
  • implectō
  • perplexus
  • plecta
  • plectilis
  • plexilis
  • amplector
  • circumplectō
  • circumplector
  • complectō
  • complector

Usage notes

A different verb plēctō, used mostly in the passive, means “to beat, punish”, as in Plautus and Cicero; it is related to plāga “blow”.[3][1]

References

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