suavior

Forms

suāvior (present infinitive suāviārī, perfect active suāviātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^[1] Also spelled sāvior, the form under which the OLD and Georges enter it.^[2][3] An active form suāviō or sāviō is also found.^[2][4][5]

Etymology

It is from Latin sāvium (“kiss”) + -or.^[2][1] De Vaan treats sāvium under suāvis (“sweet”), with the first of two /w/ sounds lost by dissimilation.^[6] The adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *swādu- (“sweet”) and Proto-Indo-European *sueh₂d-u- (“sweet”).^[6]

Through it the word is related to Ancient Greek ἡδύς (hēdús, “sweet, pleasant”) and Sanskrit स्वादु (svādú-, “sweet”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Atellan farces of Pomponius and in the historian Quadrigarius, and in Cicero (81–43 BC),^[5][7] always meaning “to kiss”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short count it as Classical.^[4] Cicero writes to Atticus that he longs to kiss “our Attica” though she is away (Atticam nostram cupio absentem suaviari, Letters to Atticus 16.3.6),^[4] and Catullus kisses a friend's “mouth and eyes” (os oculosque, 9.9).^[4][3] Fronto, Gellius, who quotes a poet's “gaping kiss”, and Ammianus Marcellinus also use it.^[3] In Fronto the perfect participle sāviātus has the passive sense “kissable”.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[5][4][7]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus kisses “mouth and eyes”.^[4][3][7]
• 100–170 AD – Fronto uses it, and its participle in the sense “kissable”.^[3][7]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius quotes a poet who uses it.^[3][7]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it.^[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To kiss.^[2][4][1]

Usage notes

The active suāviō is quoted by Nonius from Pomponius and Novatus.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de