Etymologically
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sensim

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsẽː.sĩː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛn.sim][1]

Forms

sēnsim (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sentiō (“to perceive”) + -im, formed on the participle stem ⟨sēns-⟩.[2][1] Lewis & Short explain the first sense as “perceptibly”, as opposed to suddenly.[3] De Vaan traces sentiō to Proto-Italic *s(e)nt-ije/o- and Proto-Indo-European *snt-ie/o- (“to notice”).[4] Cognate with Lithuanian sintė́ti (“to think”); whether Old Irish sét (“road”) belongs to the same root is doubtful.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] and Köbler from Cicero, who writes that we come to know ourselves slowly and late.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

It means slowly, gradually, little by little, opposed to repente “suddenly”.[2][3] Livy uses it in the sense cautiously or tentatively: the soldiers no longer made demands gradually through their centurions but all at once with shouts.[2] Döderlein groups it with paulātim as words for an imperceptible progress, unlike gradātim and pedetemptim, which describe a conscious, step-by-step one.[6] Church Latin glosses it slowly, softly, gradually.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of knowing oneself slowly.[3][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy in the sense tentatively.[2][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of reminding someone gently.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Slowly, gradually, little by little.[2][3][7][1]
  2. Cautiously, tentatively, gently.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson