Etymologically
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suborno

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊˈboːr.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [suˈbɔr.no][1]

Forms

subōrnō (present infinitive subōrnāre, perfect active subōrnāvī, supine subōrnātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”).[2][1][3] De Vaan takes ōrnō as the original verb formed from ōrdō (“row, order”), through ⟨*ōrd-n-āre⟩; the origin of that noun is uncertain.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the OLD's earliest quotations Cicero exclaims that Roscius suborned a false witness, and writes of how man comes into life equipped by nature.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short separate senses where the verb prevails, to fit out or equip, from those where the prefix does, to incite secretly.[6] In the first, Antony writes of furnishing someone with money, Plancus asks Cicero to equip those in the battle line, and Seneca has men dressed up as soldiers.[6] Petronius has a host who keeps a trumpeter dressed for the purpose, so that he always knows how much of his life he has lost.[2] In the second it is to prepare or instruct someone for an underhand purpose, above all to suborn a witness, in Cicero and Quintilian.[2][6] Church Latin glosses it to instigate secretly, bribe, equip, provide.[7] English suborn comes from it, partly through French, from the 1530s.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of suborning a false witness.[2][6][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of men dressed as soldiers.[6][5]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius of a trumpeter kept dressed for duty.[2][5]
  • 1530s – English suborn.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To supply, equip, furnish.[2][6][1][7]
  2. To dress up, disguise; to put on an appearance.[2]
  3. To prepare or instruct secretly; to suborn a witness, instigate.[2][6][1][7]

Word family

  • subornator
  • subornātrix

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson