Etymologically
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quassus

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quassus1 battered

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷas.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷas.sus][1]

Forms

quassus (feminine quassa, neuter quassum); first/second-declension adjective[2]

Etymology

The adjective “battered” is from Latin quatiō (“to shake”), its past participle.[2][3][4] De Vaan finds no secure Indo-European etymology for the verb and thinks it may be of non-Indo-European origin.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro uses it of cracked jars bound with rushes.[2]

Semantic evolution

It describes things damaged by shaking or blows: Horace has battered ships repaired, Ovid has a cracked tile, Martial the broken wheel of a muleteer.[2] Of wood it means broken small, of torches and cinnamon in Ovid,[2] and of the voice broken or quavering, in Curtius.[2][5] Seneca applies it to a man battered and struggling with old age, Silius Italicus to a stricken city.[2]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of cracked jars.[2][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of battered ships.[2][6]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius uses it of a quavering voice.[2][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a man battered by old age.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Battered, bruised, cracked.[2][3]
  2. Of wood, broken small, chopped.[2]
  3. Of the voice, broken, quavering.[2][5]
  4. (figurative) Crushed by misfortune, stricken.[2][5]

quassus2 shaking

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷas.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷas.sus][1]

Forms

quassus m (genitive quassūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

The noun “shaking” is from Latin quatiō (“to shake”) + -tus, a noun of action.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Pacuvius,[4] in a line Cicero quotes, where handling and shaking increase the pain of a wounded man.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a rare word: besides Pacuvius the OLD cites only Seneca, who calls man a vessel that breaks at any shaking.[2]

Timeline

  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it of shaking a wounded man.[2][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a vessel broken by any shock.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A shaking.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de