reclino

Forms

reclīnō (present infinitive reclīnāre, perfect active reclīnāvī, supine reclīnātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from re- (“back”) and a verb ⟨*clīnō⟩ “to bend”, found only in compounds such as acclīnō.^[2][3] De Vaan traces ⟨-clīnō⟩ to Proto-Italic *kl(e)in-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ḱl-n(e)-i- (“to lean to, bend”).^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek κλίνω (klínō, “to cause to lean”) and Old English hlinian (“to lean”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it in his Aratea, where Cepheus lays back his head;^[2] de Vaan dates it from Varro.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It means to cause to lie back or lean against something;^[2] Lewis & Short call it classical but rare.^[5] Reflexively it is to lie or lean back: Caesar writes that the elks lean back against trees to rest.^[2][5] It is also to lay down or rest things, as in Virgil's shields laid aside,^[2][5] and to bend or lay back, as of eyelashes in Pliny the Elder.^[2] Statius has bodies turned over, and Quintilian uses the passive of an orator leaning back towards his supporters.^[5] The Vulgate has non habet ubi caput reclīnet, “has nowhere to lay his head”.^[5] In Church Latin it is to lay back, bend back or recline.^[6] English recline (early 15th century) comes from it, partly through Old French.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of Cepheus laying back his head.^[2][8]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar, of elks leaning against trees.^[2][8]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, of shields laid down.^[2][8]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, of laying one's head.^[5][8]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as recline.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cause to lie back, lean back;^[2][5][1] reflexively, to recline.^[2][1][6]
2. To lay down, rest things.^[2][5]
3. To bend or lay back.^[2][1]

Word family

• reclīnātōrium
• reclīnis
• reclinus

Related words

• acclīnō
• dēclīnō
• inclīnō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c 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 d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de