suffugium

Forms

suffugium n (genitive suffugiī or suffugī); second declension^[1] It is also spelled subfugium.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin suffugiō (“to flee under, take refuge”) + -ium.^[1][2] suffugiō is a compound of sub- and fugiō (“to flee”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *fug-i- and Proto-Indo-European *bhug-i- (“to flee”).^[3][4] Cognate with Ancient Greek φεύγω (pheúgō, “to flee”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from the Nux,^[4] where the walnut tree asks what it is but a shelter for those avoiding the rain: quid nisi suffugium nimbos vitantibus essem?^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is something under which one takes refuge from the weather, a shelter:^[1] Tacitus says the Germans dig underground caves as a refuge from winter, and speaks of nearby places of refuge.^[2] Lewis & Short note that it is not found before the Augustan age.^[2] Figuratively it is a means of escape from danger or misfortune, as Quintilian's evasions that are the refuges of weakness.^[1]

Timeline

• 1st half of the 1st century AD – The Nux, of a tree sheltering people from rain.^[2][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of refuges of weakness.^[1][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of caves as a refuge from winter.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shelter from the weather, a covert.^[1][2][4]
2. A refuge, a means of escape.^[1][4]

Related words

• suffugiō
• fugiō
• perfugium
• refugium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de