Etymologically
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suesco

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈsʷeːs.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsʷɛs.ko][1]

Forms

suēscō (present infinitive suēscere, perfect active suēvī, supine suētum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is an inchoative inherited from Proto-Italic *swē(þ)-sk-e/o-, from a phrase *suē-dʰh₁- “to make one's own”, with the reflexive stem *swe- “self” and the root *dʰeh₁- “to put”.[2][3] Cognate with Ancient Greek εἴωθα (eíōtha, “to be accustomed”) and Ancient Greek ἔθος (éthos, “custom”), and the OLD compares Sanskrit स्वधा (svadhā́, “usual state”).[2][3] The compounds such as cōnsuēscō are older, and the simple verb is a back-formation.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius, who says the Greeks are accustomed to call these stars by a name.[2][3] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to become accustomed to doing something, with an infinitive, and in the perfect suēvī “I am accustomed”.[3][5] Transitively it was to accustom or train, as Tacitus' Tacfarinas trained picked men in Roman discipline.[3] Tacitus also has mīlitiae suēscere, to get used to soldiering.[5]

Its compounds were much more common: cōnsuētūdō “custom” gave Old French costume and English custom about 1200, and mānsuēscere “to tame”, from manus “hand”, gave English mansuetude.[6]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[3][4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of training soldiers.[3][4]
  • c. 1200 – English custom is recorded, from cōnsuētūdō.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To become accustomed (to), (perfect) to be accustomed.[3]
  2. To accustom, habituate.[3]

Word family

  • assuēscō
  • cōnsuēscō
  • dēsuēscō
  • īnsuēscō
  • īnsuētus
  • mānsuēs
  • adsuēscō
  • mānsuēsco

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com