strictim

Forms

strictim (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin strictus (“drawn tight, close”) with the adverbial suffix -im,^[2][3] and that participle belongs to stringō (“to draw tight”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,^[4][5] meaning “close to the skin”: utrum strictimne attōnsūrum dīcam esse an per pectinem nesciō, “I don't know whether to say he will shear him close or over the comb”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense “closely, tightly” is rare and occurs before and after the classical period, in Plautus, Palladius and Apuleius.^[2] The figurative sense “briefly, cursorily” is common in classical prose, in Varro, Cicero, Quintilian and Suetonius,^[2][3] and Cicero also uses it for looking at something only superficially.^[2]

British Medieval Latin used it both for “closely, tightly” and for “summarily”, and later also for “exactly”, of measurements.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of shearing close to the skin.^[3][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of things said briefly.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of speaking briefly and of a superficial look.^[2][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a summary treatment.^[2][5]
• 1420 – A York record uses it for exact measurements.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Close to the body or skin, closely, tightly; compactly.^[3][2]
2. Cursorily, summarily, briefly; superficially.^[3][2]
3. (Medieval Latin) Exactly, precisely.^[6]

Related words

• strictus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press