suffulcio

Forms

suffulciō (present infinitive suffulcīre, perfect active suffulsī, supine suffultum); fourth conjugation^[1] It is also spelled subfulciō.^[2][1] Fulgentius has a perfect form suffulcierit.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- (“under”) + fulciō (“to prop up”).^[4][1][5] De Vaan calls the origin of fulciō unclear: it is often connected with Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx, “beam”) and Old High German balko (“beam”), but he finds the link of “beam” or “prop” with the root meaning “to swell” that is assumed for those words unclear.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Plautus on,^[5] who uses it absolutely: nisi suffulcis firmiter, non potes subsistere, “unless you prop yourself up firmly, you cannot stand”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It means to prop from below, keep from falling,^[4] and Lewis and Short call it mostly ante- and post-classical and absent from Cicero.^[2] Lucretius has a portico propped on equal columns, porticus paribus suffulta columnis, and food taken to sustain the limbs.^[2][6] Seneca uses it of a garment one lies on, Martial of a litter borne by Syrian slaves, and Apuleius of jaws and neck propped with cushions.^[2][6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to support from beneath.^[7] Italian continues it as soffolcere.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of propping oneself up.^[2][5][8]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a portico on columns and of food sustaining the limbs.^[2][8]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a litter carried by slaves.^[2][6][8]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of propping with cushions.^[2][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To prop up from below, underprop, keep from falling.^[4][2][6]
2. To bear, carry (a litter).^[2][6]
3. (figurative) To sustain, strengthen.^[2][3]

Word family

• suffultura

Related words

• fulciō
• fulcrum
• praefulciō

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 l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de