Etymologically
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stimulo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈstɪ.mʊ.ɫoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈstiː.mu.lo][1]

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

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