Etymologically
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subnecto

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊbˈnɛk.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [subˈnɛk.to][1]

Forms

subnectō (present infinitive subnectere, perfect active subnexuī, supine subnexum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- (“under”) + nectō (“to bind”).[2][1] The origin of nectō is uncertain: one old view takes it as a remake of an earlier verb related to nōdus (“knot”), another connects it with Proto-Indo-European *h₂nḱ- (“to reach”); de Vaan finds neither convincing.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first examples are in Virgil, who in the Georgics tells farmers to tie loose rings of twigs round calves' necks,[2][4] and in the Aeneid has a golden brooch fastening a purple garment.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it poetic and found in post-Augustan prose, and give subligō as a synonym.[4] Ovid has it of fastening a sail to the yards, and Pliny the Elder of tying something to the neck with thread.[2][5]

From binding one thing under another it came to mean adding something next in speech or writing: Valerius Maximus attaches foreign examples to Roman ones, Quintilian writes of adding judgement to invention, and Juvenal says he could add other reasons.[2][4] Apuleius uses it to introduce a quotation.[2] Justinus has it of adding a story.[4][6]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of tying rings round calves' necks and of fastening a garment.[2]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of fastening a sail.[2][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of adding in speech.[2][4]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of adding reasons.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To bind or tie one thing under another.[2][4]
  2. To fasten up, of a buckle or clasp.[2]
  3. (figurative) To add next in speech or writing, subjoin.[2][4][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.