sollicito

Forms

sollicitō (present infinitive sollicitāre, perfect active sollicitāvī, supine sollicitātum); first conjugation^[1] It is also spelled sōlicitō.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sollicitus (“troubled, anxious”) + -ō.^[3][1] De Vaan explains ⟨sollicitus⟩ as “wholly stirred”, from sollus (“whole”) and ⟨citus⟩, the participle of cieō (“to set in motion”); ⟨sollus⟩ goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sol(h₂)-no- (“whole”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius, Annals, of Histrians harassing a tribune with a shower of weapons.^[3][5] De Vaan records it from Plautus on.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense is to disturb with repeated blows, to harass, and to tug at or shake (Virgil of a hand working at a spearhead in a wound); in Lucretius and Virgil it is to stir into life, and to rouse desire.^[3] Plautus uses it for pestering people with visits and requests (quid hunc sollicitās?, “why are you pestering him?”) and for worries that torment (aurum … quod mē sollicitat, “the gold that worries me”).^[3] It is to provoke a god's anger (Livy), to work on someone's mind, to tamper with slaves (Cicero), to incite to revolt (Cicero of the Allobroges), to try to seduce (Ovid), to obtain by suborning, and to tempt.^[3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “solicit, tempt, seduce”, and in the passive “be solicitous, be conscientious”.^[6] English solicit (early 15th century) first meant “to disturb, trouble”.^[7]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius of harassing a tribune.^[3][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of pestering and of worry.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of inciting envoys to revolt.^[3][5]
• early 15th century – English solicit.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To harass, disturb; to shake, tug at.^[3][1]
2. To pester, importune.^[3]
3. To worry, distress, vex.^[3][1]
4. To stir, rouse, excite; to provoke.^[3][1]
5. To work upon, tamper with; to incite (to revolt).^[3][1]
6. To tempt, seduce, solicit.^[3][1][6]

Word family

• sollicitātiō
• sollicitātor

Related words

• sollicitus
• sollicitūdō
• cieō
• English solicit

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com