sufflo

Forms

sufflō (present infinitive sufflāre, perfect active sufflāvī, supine sufflātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + flō (“to blow”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan gives Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to blow”), with a query, as the root of flō, and thinks it possible that sufflāmen (“brake for wheeled vehicles”) is derived from this verb.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it from Plautus on.^[4] In the Stichus a piper is told to puff out his cheeks quickly and put the pipes back to his lips (suffla celeriter tibi buccas).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was to puff up with air: Cato has veins that are swollen after food,^[2][6] and Horace a frog puffing herself up to ask how big the beast was.^[2] Plautus already used it of swelling with anger, se sufflare uxori, to be furious with one's wife,^[2][6] and Varro of being puffed up with gold, birth or learning;^[2] Persius has it for saying something boastfully.^[2][6]

It also meant to blow on something: Petronius mocks decrepit gladiators who would have fallen down if you had blown on them,^[2][7] Pliny the Elder speaks of a boy blowing on a dying fire,^[2][8] and Martial of blowing on a cake with the cheeks.^[2][6] Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of puffing someone up with pride.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of puffing out the cheeks and of swelling with rage.^[2][9]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of swollen veins.^[2][9]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of being puffed up with pride.^[2][9]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a frog puffing herself up.^[2][9]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of blowing on someone.^[2][9]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of puffing someone up with pride.^[7][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To puff up, inflate, distend with air.^[2][5]
2. (reflexive or passive) To swell with rage.^[2][6]
3. To puff up with pride; to say boastfully.^[2][7]
4. To blow on.^[2][8]

Word family

• exsufflō
• īnsufflō
• obsufflō
• sufflabilis
• sufflāmen
• sufflātiō
• sufflātus

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 n o p q r s 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de