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suffodio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word suffodio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 50 BC, Caesar
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰodʰ-i-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fodio
Latin transfodio
Latin suffodio
Latin infodio
Latin effodio
Latin confodio
Latin defodio
Latin perfodio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊfˈfɔ.di.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [sufˈfɔː.di.o][1]

Forms

suffodiō (present infinitive suffodere, perfect active suffōdī, supine suffossum); third (-iō variant) conjugation[1] Also spelled subf-.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- (“under”) + fodiō (“to dig”).[2][1] De Vaan traces fodiō to Proto-Italic *foþ-i- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰodʰ-i- (“to poke, dig”), cognate with Lithuanian bèsti (“to stick, drive in, dig”) and Hittite padda-i (“to dig”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Caesar has it in the Gallic War, of horses stabbed from below so that many of the cavalry were thrown.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it classical but not found in Cicero.[3] Its main sense is to dig or tunnel under, especially under a wall so as to bring it down: the Bellum Alexandrinum says that nearly all Alexandria is undermined, with tunnels that bring water into the houses.[2] Curtius has armed men coming out of a tunnel dug underneath without a trace.[2] The other sense is to stab from below, used of horses in Caesar, Livy and Tacitus, and of the groin in Suetonius.[3][2] Church Latin has “dig below, undermine”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar, of horses stabbed from below.[2][3][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of horses stabbed in the flank.[3][6]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius, of a tunnel dug under a city.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of horses stabbed from below.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To dig, burrow or tunnel under; to undermine.[2][3][1][5]
  2. To dig a cavity underneath.[2]
  3. To stab or pierce from below.[2][3][1]

Word family

  • suffossiō
  • suffossus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Suffodio.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/suffodio. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·