suetus

Forms

suētus (feminine suēta, neuter suētum); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2] Lucretius and Horace scan it as two syllables.^[1]

Etymology

It is the perfect passive participle from Latin suēscō (“to become accustomed”).^[1][2] De Vaan traces suēscō to Proto-Italic *swē(þ)-sk-e/o- and a phrase Proto-Indo-European *sue(h₁-)dʰh₁- (“to make one's own, get accustomed”), perhaps from the word for “self, own”; the simple verb is a back-formation from older compounds such as cōnsuēscō.^[3] Cognate with Ancient Greek εἴωθα (eíōtha, “to be used to”), ἦθος (êthos, “custom”) and Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃 (swes, “own”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is in Lucretius, of adamantine rocks used to despising blows;^[1] Köbler's first source is Sallust.^[4]

Semantic evolution

With an infinitive it means accustomed to do something, and with a dative accustomed to an activity or condition, as Sallust's soldiers used to brigandage from boyhood.^[1] Of things it means usual or familiar, as Livy's flesh of animals both familiar and unfamiliar.^[1]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of rocks used to blows.^[1][4]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of soldiers used to brigandage.^[1][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy in the sense familiar.^[1][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Accustomed, used to doing something or to a condition.^[1][2]
2. Usual, familiar.^[1]

Related words

• suēscō
• cōnsuētus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de