revincio

Forms

revinciō (present infinitive revincīre, perfect active revīnxī, supine revīnctum); fourth conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- (“back, again”) + vinciō (“to bind, fasten”).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Ennius' Annals, of a heart bound with iron.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to bind back or behind, to bind fast;^[3] Lewis & Short note that Cicero does not use it.^[3] Ovid has Andromeda bound, Caesar anchors held fast by iron chains instead of ropes, and Ovid a girdle tied to the top of a doorpost.^[2] Lucretius uses it of the earth bound to the sky.^[3] With an ablative it means to fasten round or gird with something, as Ennius' heart girt with iron.^[2] In one passage of Columella it apparently means the opposite, to unbind someone.^[2] Stelten gives "bind, tie back" for Church Latin.^[4]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius of a heart bound with iron.^[2]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the earth bound to the sky.^[3]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of anchors fastened with chains.^[2][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of Andromeda bound.^[2]
• 1st century AD – Columella, apparently of unbinding.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bind back or behind; to tie down, hold fast, fetter.^[2][3][1][4]
2. (with ablative) To fasten round, gird, wreathe with.^[2][1]
3. (apparently) To unbind, free from fetters.^[2]

Related words

• revīnctus
• vīnctiō
• vīnctor
• vīnctūra
• vīnctus
• vinculō
• vinculum
• vinciō

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson