Etymologically
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runco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈrʊŋ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈruŋ.ko][1]

Forms

runcō (present infinitive runcāre, perfect active runcāvī, supine runcātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *runk-ā-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ru-n-k- (“to dig out”).[2] De Vaan takes it to be formed from a noun or adjective *runk-o-, itself derived from a nasal present of that root; the OLD also suggests the same root with a nasal infix.[2][3]

Cognate with Sanskrit लुञ्चति (luñcati, “to pluck”), Ancient Greek ὀρύσσω (orússō, “to dig, grub”) and Latvian rūkêt (“to grub up”).[2][3] The carpenter's runcina (“plane”) probably rests on ῥυκάνη (rhukánē, “plane”), influenced by this verb.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cato's treatise on agriculture,[2][4] of weeding out thorns.[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It was a farming word: Varro, Columella and Pliny the Elder use it of weeding crops and fields, and of rooting plants out.[3][4][5] Persius uses it figuratively of plucking the hair from the body,[4][5][6] and Augustine of mowing grain.[4][5] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to weed out, mow or pluck.[7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of weeding out thorns.[4][8]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of weeding crops.[4][8]
  • 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of plucking out hair.[4][8]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of mowing grain.[4][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To grub up, root out (plants);[3][4] to weed (crops, ground).[3][4]
  2. (figurative) To pluck, strip of hair.[4][5]
  3. (Late Latin) To mow.[4][5]

Word family

  • ēruncō
  • runca
  • runcatiō
  • runcātor
  • runcina

Usage notes

Georges and Gaffiot give a separate noun runcō, -ōnis, a weeding hook, from this verb; it is found in Palladius and explained by Isidore.[5][4][6] In medieval Latin runco or ronco meant a scythe, a halberd or a grapnel.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill