Etymologically
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sternuo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈstɛr.nu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈstɛr.nu.o][1]

Forms

sternuō (present infinitive sternuere, perfect active sternuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *(p)ster-nu-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(p)st-(e)r-nu- (“to sneeze”).[2][1] Latin and Greek, and perhaps Armenian, both have a present with a /nu/ suffix, but in Greek it is secondary to the aorist; the initial cluster may go back to /pst/, but this too is uncertain.[2] Imitative deformation may have affected the word in all the languages, yet de Vaan finds it unlikely that each would have invented a form with an inner /r/ to render a sneeze, so Latin may well have inherited it.[2][1]

Cognate with Ancient Greek πτάρνυμαι (ptárnumai, “to sneeze”) and πταρμός (ptarmós, “sneezing”), Middle Irish sreod (“sneezing”), Welsh trew (“sneezing”) and Breton streviañ (“to sneeze”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2] In the Pseudolus a speaker promises that the matter will be settled dum tu sternuas, “while you sneeze”, that is, in a moment.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Columella and Pliny the Elder use it of sneezing in the plain sense.[3][5][4] Ovid transfers it to a lamp that sputters.[3][5][4] Transitively it means to send forth by sneezing, as a sign of good omen or approval:[6] in Catullus Love sneezes his approval, sternuit approbationem, and Propertius has an omen sneezed to someone.[3][4] From it come sternūtō “to sneeze repeatedly” and sternūmentum “a sneeze”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus writes dum tu sternuas.[3][7]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus has Love sneeze his approval.[3][7]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of an omen.[3][7]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a sputtering lamp.[3][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of sneezing.[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To sneeze.[8][3][5]
  2. (intransitive, of a lamp) To sputter, crackle.[3][5][4]
  3. (transitive) To give (approval, an omen) by sneezing.[3][5][4]

Word family

  • sternūmentum
  • sternūtō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press