succingo

Forms

succingō (present infinitive succingere, perfect active succinxī, supine succinctum); third conjugation^[1] The spelling subcingō is also found.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + cingō (“to gird”),^[1][2] though the OLD takes the present as probably a back-formation from the participle succinctus (“girded up”).^[3] De Vaan calls the origin of cingō uncertain: Lithuanian kinkýti (“to harness horses”) fits in meaning, but its root shape cannot be Proto-Indo-European, and the Sanskrit words compared are late and irregular.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest example in the OLD is in Vitruvius, who describes the Serpent constellation coiling round Virgo, Leo and Cancer.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is to gather up one's clothes with a belt or girdle, to tuck up, as in Juvenal's tunics tucked up to mid-shin;^[3][2] Lewis & Short note it is mostly poetic and post-Augustan.^[3][2] Figuratively it means to gird oneself for action, as in a poem in Petronius and in Florus, where Caesar girds himself against Cassius and Brutus.^[3] It also means to surround closely, as in Pliny the Younger's “he will gird himself with terror in vain who is not fenced by affection”, and of fleets hemming in a coast.^[3] The participle succinctus gave English succinct in the early 15th century.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of a constellation encircling others.^[3][6]
• before 66 AD – Petronius of girding the mind for literature.^[3][6]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal of tunics tucked up.^[2][6]
• c. 120 AD – Florus of Caesar preparing for war and of a fleet hemming in a coast.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To gather up clothes with a belt or girdle, tuck up; to gird.^[3][2][1]
2. (figurative) To prepare for action, gird up.^[3][1]
3. To surround closely, hem in.^[3]

Word family

• succinctim
• succinctulus

Related words

• English succinct

References

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