suffigo

Forms

suffīgō (present infinitive suffīgere, perfect active suffīxī, supine suffīxum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- (“under”) + fīgō (“to fix, fasten”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *dheigw-e/o- or Proto-Indo-European *dhiHgw-e/o-; the old forms ⟨fīvere⟩ and ⟨offīvēbant⟩ keep the regular outcome of /gʷ/ between vowels, while the ⟨g⟩ of the present was taken over from the perfect.^[4] He compares Lithuanian díegti (“to plant, sting”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it in the Miles Gloriosus: columnam mento suffigit suo, “he props a column under his chin”, of a man resting his chin on his hand.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is to fix something underneath as a support, or to fasten it to something lying above; with an ablative it means to furnish a thing with something fixed underneath, as in Seneca's beams not covered with gold.^[2][5] Catullus speaks of a door fixed to a beam,^[6][5] and Pliny the Elder of slippers fitted with golden nails.^[6][7]

It also means to attach to the top of something, to fix aloft: Lucan has sails fastened to the top of the yard, and Suetonius a head stuck on a spear.^[2][7][8] With cruci or in cruce it is to fasten to a cross, to crucify, as in Cicero, Horace and later authors.^[2][6][8] Apuleius has cubito suffixo, leaning on one's elbow.^[8][5]

Its participle suffixus passed, as Vulgar Latin *suffictus “fastened below”, into Italian soffitto (“ceiling”), the source of English soffit (1610s).^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has columnam mento suffigit suo.^[2][5][10]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of fastening to a cross.^[2][6][10]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus speaks of a door fixed to a beam.^[6][5][10]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of beams fitted with gold and of fresh goads to grief.^[2][5][10]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has a head fixed on a spear.^[7][10]
• 1610s – English soffit comes from Italian, from Latin suffixus.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fix beneath as a support; to fasten to something lying above.^[2][6][5]
2. (with ablative) To furnish (something) with a thing fixed underneath.^[2][5]
3. To insert (something sharp) underneath.^[2]
4. To attach to the top of, fix aloft; to stick (a head) on a spear.^[2][8][7]
5. cruci or in cruce suffigere: to fasten to a cross, to crucify.^[2][6][8]

Related words

• fīgō
• English soffit

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de