Etymologically
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saevus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsae̯.wʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛː.vus][1]

Forms

saevus (feminine saeva, neuter saevum, comparative saevior, superlative saevissimus, adverb saevē); first/second-declension adjective[1] Ammianus has a third-declension form, genitive plural saevium.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *saiwo- (“savage”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂i-wo-, from a root *sh₂ey- (“to rage, be in pain”).[3][1][4] De Vaan suggests this root may be the same as ⟨*sh₂i-⟩ “to tie”, since raging and pain are sometimes described as being bound by an outside force.[3] The OLD compares Latvian sievs (“cruel”);[5][2] Lewis and Short thought of scaevus.[5][2]

Cognate with Old Irish sáeth (“sorrow”), Hittite šāi- (“to become angry”), Ancient Greek αἰανής (aianḗs, “irritating”) and Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍂 (sair, “pain”), and English sore.[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Livius Andronicus.[3][4] Plautus has nunc truculentō mī atque saevō ūsus senest, “now I need a fierce and savage old man”.[5]

Semantic evolution

Saevus is “harsh, savage, ferocious”, of people and their words and deeds, and also “wild, untamed” and, of animals, “fierce”.[5][2][1] It is used of violent forces such as storms, of cruel conditions and dangers, of severe pain, and of violent passions (Ennius: Medea amōre saevō saucia, “wounded by fierce love”).[5] Lewis and Short say it means roused to fierceness, while ferus is fierce by nature.[2] Döderlein groups it with atrōx and trux, words for what looks terrifying.[6]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Used by Livius Andronicus.[3][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: amōre saevō saucia;[5][4] dracōnis saevī, “of the fierce dragon”.[5][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: truculentō … atque saevō.[5][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius: genus ācre leōnum saevaque saecla, “the fierce race of lions and savage breeds”.[5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. savage, fierce, ferocious, cruel.[5][2][1]
  2. Wild, untamed.[5]
  3. Fierce (of animals).[5]
  4. Violent (of storms and other forces).[5][1]
  5. Harsh, cruel (of conditions); severe (of pain).[5]
  6. Violent, vehement (of passions).[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper