Etymologically
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succingo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊkˈkɪŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [sutˈt͡ʃiŋ.ɡo][1]

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
  • 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