sparsus

Forms

sparsus (feminine sparsa, neuter sparsum, comparative sparsior); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is the participle of spargō (“to scatter, sprinkle”), used as an adjective.^[1][2][3] De Vaan traces spargō to Proto-Italic *sparg- and Proto-Indo-European *sp(e)r-g- (“to strew”), comparing Hittite išpār- (“to spread out, strew”) and Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō, “to strew, sow”).^[4] Most handbooks instead link the verb with words for a hissing or crackling sound, which de Vaan finds semantically unconvincing.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Terence.^[3] Its uses follow those of the verb, which Cato already has of scattering pigeon dung on a meadow.^[1]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means occurring at irregular intervals, thinly spread or scattered, and of warfare sporadic; of a composite thing it means straggling, as Pliny the Elder's looser bunch of grapes when the berries are smaller.^[1] Döderlein contrasts sparsi capilli, dishevelled hair, with combed hair, as passi is loose and prolixi hanging hair.^[6] Livy uses the verb's participle of matrons running with their hair streaming like Bacchants.^[1]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses the participle.^[3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of hair streaming loose.^[1][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a straggling bunch of grapes.^[1][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Scattered, thinly distributed, occurring at irregular intervals; of war, sporadic.^[1]
2. Having its parts spread out, straggling.^[1]
3. Of hair, dishevelled, streaming.^[1][6]

Related words

• spargō
• sparsim

References

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