suffio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsʊf.fi.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsuf.fi.o]^[1]

Forms

suffiō (present infinitive suffīre, perfect active suffīvī or suffiī, supine suffītum); fourth conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from sub- and a verb *-fiō from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂-ie- (“to make smoke”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke”) of fūmus and fūlīgō.^[2][1][3] The sound change from *dʰuH-ie- to ⟨-fiō⟩ is disputed: most assume *fūje- unrounded to *fīje-, while Kortlandt posits *-dʰwīō.^[2][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek θύω (thúō, “to sacrifice”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato, who prescribes fumigating a jar with garlands, rush and palm.^[2][4] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to subject to aromatic fumes, fumigate, perfume, as Virgil's hives fumigated with thyme, and to burn an aromatic substance as a fumigant, as Pliny the Elder's anise easing headaches.^[3][6] Lewis and Short call it mostly poetic and post-Augustan, and absent from Cicero.^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of fumigating a jar.^[4][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of fumigating with thyme.^[6][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of burning anise.^[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fumigate, perfume with aromatic fumes.^[3]
2. To burn (an aromatic substance) as a fumigant.^[3]

Word family

• suffīmen
• suffīmentum
• suffītiō
• suffītor
• suffītus

Related words

• fimum
• foeteō
• fūlīgō
• fūmus

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.