succenseo

Forms

succēnseō (present infinitive succēnsēre, perfect active succēnsuī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1] The OLD, Georges and VOLI give it under the spelling suscēnseō, with succēnseō as a variant.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The OLD and VOLI analyse it as from Latin sub- + cēnseō (“to assess, judge”),^[2][4] and de Vaan lists it among the compounds of cēnseō.^[5] Lewis & Short and Wiktionary instead derive it from succēnsus (“set on fire”), the participle of succendō (“to set on fire from below”), as a stative verb meaning “to be inflamed”.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it from Plautus on.^[5] In the Mostellaria a speaker says neque illi sum iratus neque quicquam succenseo (“I am not angry with him, nor do I bear him any grudge”).^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

In classical Latin it is usually construed with a dative of the person: Cicero pairs it with irasci in hominibus irasci et succensere, to be angry and indignant with people.^[6][3] With a neuter pronoun in the accusative it gives the cause of the displeasure (nil est quod suscenseam, “I have no reason to be angry”), as in Terence,^[2][3] and it also takes propter in Plautus and Ovid,^[3] or an accusative and infinitive, as in Suetonius.^[2]

Döderlein contrasts it with irasci: like aegre ferre it expresses a silent resentment, where irasci and indignari show a loud displeasure.^[7] Ecclesiastical Latin uses it in the same sense, to be enraged or irritated.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of bearing a grudge.^[6][3][9]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it with a neuter pronoun for the cause.^[2][9]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero pairs it with irasci.^[6][9]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid writes that the people of Tomis are angry with him for his words.^[3][9]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it with an accusative and infinitive.^[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be angry or indignant with someone (with dative).^[2][6]
2. To be angry about something (with the accusative of a neuter pronoun, or an accusative and infinitive).^[2][3]

Usage notes

Its forms should not be confused with those of succendō “to set on fire”.^[4] Döderlein distinguishes it as silent resentment from the open anger of īrāscor.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de