setius

Forms

sētius (comparative, no positive form)^[1] It is sometimes spelled sēcius.^[2] Gellius quotes a line of Plautus with sectius.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sēto- (“late, slow”) with a comparative suffix: de Vaan explains the adverb as an ⟨-io-⟩ derivative of that adjective, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-to- (“late, slow”), perhaps from the same root as sērus (“late”).^[3][1] The OLD gives the link with sērus only as possible.^[2] Cognates include Old Irish sith- (“continuous”), Welsh hyd (“length”) and Old English sīd (“long”).^[3] It was sometimes written ⟨secius⟩, as if it were a comparative of secus² (“otherwise”), which brought it close to the real comparative sequius.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose Cistellaria has it in the sense “later, more slowly”: a speaker delays himself by doing this.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “later, more slowly” is rare; the OLD marks it as apparent only.^[2] In negative contexts it means to a lesser degree or less readily, as in Lucretius.^[2] With quō and the subjunctive it means so as to delay or prevent something, as in an inscription (CIL 1.584).^[2] The commonest use is nihilō sētius and similar phrases, “none the less, all the same”.^[2][1] Perhaps under the influence of secus it also came to mean “otherwise”, as already in Plautus' Captivi.^[2][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of doing something later or slower, and in the sense “otherwise”.^[2][4]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius, in a negative clause, “less readily”.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Later, more slowly.^[2][1]
2. (in negative contexts) To a lesser degree, less readily.^[2][1]
3. quō sētius (with the subjunctive), so as to delay or prevent.^[2][1]
4. nihilō sētius, none the less, all the same.^[2][1]
5. Otherwise.^[2][1]

Related words

• sērus
• secus²

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de