Etymologically
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reclino

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈkliː.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈkliː.no][1]

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

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