Etymologically
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serio

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Forms

sēriō (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sērius (“serious”) + -ō, an adverbial ablative.[1][2] De Vaan traces the adjective to Proto-Italic *sēr-jo- and Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-ro- (“slow, heavy”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has a man say that he seriously fears his wife will throw him out of the house.[1]

Semantic evolution

It means not lightly or playfully, seriously, in earnest.[1] Introducing a statement it stresses the speaker's earnestness, honestly: in Plautus a character says that seriously, though he seems a fool, he wants some joy, and it is used alone as a reply, “really? — seriously”.[1] Döderlein notes that sēriō, in earnest, is opposed to iocō and per iocum, in jest.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, seriously.[1]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence.[1]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Seriously, in earnest.[1][5][4]
  2. (emphatic) Honestly, really.[1]

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes sevērus, of a person who makes no jokes, from sērius, of a thing that is no matter for joking;[4] sevērē and sēriō are the corresponding adverbs, and sevērior, sevērissimus and sevēritās stand in for the missing forms of sērius.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ 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 Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press