stimulo

Forms

stimulō (present infinitive stimulāre, perfect active stimulāvī, supine stimulātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from stimulus (“goad, spur”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan lists ⟨stimulus⟩ under stilus (“stake, stylus”) and is unsure whether these words and stīva (“plough handle”) belong together; they might share a root ⟨sti-⟩ “sharp object”, and a link with ⟨*stig-⟩ “to sting”, seen in stinguō, is possible but unsupported.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[3] The OLD's earliest examples are Terence, whose Heautontimorumenos has a man spurred on by his mistress's “give me” and “bring me”, and Cicero.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Literally it is to drive an animal with a goad, as Catullus' Cybele urging on her lion;^[2][4] Lewis and Short call this sense post-Augustan and rare.^[2][4] More often worries are said to prick or sting: Cicero speaks of a doubt that pricks a man day and night.^[2] Most common is “to spur on, incite”, to an action or against an enemy, as Livy's Tarquins driven by resentment, and “to rouse to frenzy”, as Virgil's Bacchant.^[2] It is also used of stirring up passions and activities, as Ovid's quarrels stirred by wine.^[2] Döderlein distinguishes it from pungō: ⟨pungere⟩ is to prick in order to wound, ⟨stimulāre⟩ to goad in order to drive on.^[5]

Church Latin glosses it “prick, goad, stimulate, urge, spur on”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^[3][7]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of a lover spurred on.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a pricking doubt.^[2][7]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of goading a lion.^[2][7]
• 1610s – English stimulate is formed from the participle stimulātus.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To goad an animal.^[2][4][6]
2. To prick, sting, torment.^[2][1]
3. To spur on, incite, urge; to rouse to frenzy.^[2][1][6]
4. To stimulate passions or activities.^[2][1]

Word family

• destimulō
• distimulo
• exstimulō
• īnstimulō
• perstimulō
• stimulātiō
• stimulātor
• stimulātrīx
• stimulātus

Related words

• stimuleus
• stimulōsus
• stimulus
• stilus
• English stimulate

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d 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 c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com