sollicitus

Forms

sollicitus (feminine sollicita, neuter sollicitum, comparative sollicitior); first/second-declension adjective^[1] It is also spelled sōlicitus; the superlative is rare.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from sollus (“whole, entire”) and citus (“stirred”), the participle of cieō (“to set in motion”): “stirred through and through”.^[4][3][1][2] De Vaan traces sollus to Proto-Italic *sollo- (“whole”) and Proto-Indo-European *sol(h₂)-no- or *solh₂wo-, cognate with Oscan sullus (“all”) and Welsh holl (“all”); cieō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(ḱ)ei(h₂)- (“to start to move”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] who has ut miserae mātrēs sollicitaeque ex animō sunt!, “how wretched and anxious mothers are at heart!”, and mē hodiē nimis sollicitum cliēns quīdam habuit, “a client kept me far too busy today”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Sollicitus is first “constantly agitated, restless” (Virgil: mare sollicitum), of a country “in turmoil”, of the senses “disturbed”, and of persons “kept busy”.^[3][2][1] Its main sense is “troubled in mind, anxious, uneasy” (Cicero: videō vōs … dē meō perīculō esse sollicitōs), of feelings and words “anxious” (Horace: sollicitā prece), and of times and riches “full of worry”.^[3][1] It is also “anxiously careful, attentive”, and of a speech “over-elaborate” (Quintilian).^[3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “solicitous, anxious, careful, concerned, diligent”,^[5] and medieval Latin uses it for “careful, attentive”.^[6] English solicitous comes from it in the 1560s.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: miserae mātrēs sollicitaeque.^[3][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: dē meō perīculō … sollicitōs.^[3][8]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil: mare sollicitum.^[3][8]
• 1560s – English solicitous.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Agitated, restless; in turmoil.^[3][2][1]
2. Busy, kept occupied.^[3]
3. anxious, troubled, uneasy, worried.^[3][2][1][5]
4. Full of anxiety (of times, wealth).^[3]
5. Careful, attentive, solicitous; over-elaborate.^[3][1][5][6]

Word family

• sollicitō
• sollicitūdō
• sollicitē

Related words

• cieō
• sollemnis
• sollers
• sollicitātiō
• sollicitātor
• solliferreum
• sollus
• English solicitous

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 c 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de