reclinis

Forms

reclīnis (neuter reclīne); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin reclīnō (“to lean back”),^[2][3][4] which the TLL describes as a back-formation, comparing inclīnis;^[3] the OLD analyses it as the verb with the suffix ⟨-is⟩, like acclīnis.^[2]

The verb is a compound of re- and clīnō (“to bend”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *kl(e)in-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ḱl-n(e)-i- (“to lean to, bend”).^[5] Cognate with Ancient Greek κλίνω (klínō, “to cause to lean”) and Old English hlinian (“to lean”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Ovid;^[4] in the Metamorphoses Venus lies with her neck resting in the lap of Adonis, positā cervīce reclīnis, although some manuscripts read a different word there.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it a poetic word of the Augustan age, absent from Virgil and Horace.^[6] It is used of people and animals leaning or lying back, often for support: Manilius has Andromeda bound to the rock nivea cervice reclinis, Martial someone lying back on the grass, and Tacitus Nero reclining at a banquet.^[3][6] Statius applies it to the river Volturnus leaning on the arch of a bridge.^[3]

Later it is also said of things: Palladius has a projecting shelf, and Jerome a reclining chair.^[6] Late writers such as Venantius Fortunatus also inflect it as reclīnus, -a, -um, and manuscripts and editions sometimes give reclīvis instead.^[3]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of Venus resting her head in the lap of Adonis.^[3][4]
• 1st century AD – Manilius uses it of Andromeda bound to the rock.^[3][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a man lying on the grass.^[6][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of Nero at a banquet.^[3][4]
• end of 4th/beginning of 5th century AD – Palladius uses it of a projecting shelf.^[6][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Leaning or lying back, reclining (against something).^[2][6]
2. Bent back; of things, projecting or sloping back.^[6][3]

Related words

• reclīnō
• inclīnis
• acclīnis

Usage notes

An Old English glossary renders the plural reclines with an Old English phrase.^[3]

References

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