Etymologically
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rigor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈrɪ.ɡɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈriː.ɡor][1]

Forms

rigor m (genitive rigōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin rigeō (“to be stiff”) + -or.[2][1] De Vaan traces rigeō to Proto-Italic *rigē- and Proto-Indo-European *Hriǵ-eh₁- (“to be stretched, be stiff”), a stative verb to a root meaning “to stretch, bind”.[3] He rejects the older derivations from regō or from the root of frīgus (“cold”).[3] Cognate with Old Irish rigid (“to stretch”) and Old High German reihhen (“to reach”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first examples in the OLD are in Lucretius, of the hardness of gold melting in heat and of the sluggish frost that winter brings.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first senses are stiffness or rigidity, as of fir wood in Vitruvius, the numbness of limbs, as in Livy's soldiers too stiff with cold to bend their joints, the hardness of metal, and a set expression or tone.[2][4] It also means a frozen state, frost, and the icy cold of water, as in Ovid.[2] Columella uses it of erect stalks, and in surveying it is a straight line.[2]

Figuratively it is inflexibility or severity, as in Manilius, and roughness of manners, as in Ovid.[2] Lewis & Short note it is not frequent until after the Augustan period and absent from Cicero.[4] Church Latin has rigour, firmness and sternness.[5] English took it through Old French in the late 14th century, first in the sense harshness or severity.[6]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of hard gold and of frost.[2][7]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of the stiffness of fir wood.[2][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of limbs numb with cold.[2][7]
  • 1st century AD – Manilius of sternness.[2][7]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as rigour.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Stiffness, rigidity; numbness of the limbs; hardness of metal.[2][4][1]
  2. Frozen state, frost; icy cold.[2][4]
  3. Erectness; in surveying, a straight line.[2]
  4. (figurative) Inflexibility, severity; roughness of manners.[2][4][1]

Word family

  • rigōrātus
  • rigefaciō
  • rigēns
  • rigeō
  • rigēscō
  • rigidē
  • rigiditās
  • rigidō
  • rigidus
  • English rigor

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 n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de