Etymologically
Log in

suffundo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 19:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊfˈfʊn.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [sufˈfun.do][1]

Forms

suffundō (present infinitive suffundere, perfect active suffūdī, supine suffūsum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled subfundō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- (“under”) + fundō (“to pour”).[2][1][4] De Vaan traces fundō to Proto-Italic *χund- and a nasal present Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰu-n-d- (“to pour”).[5] Cognate with Ancient Greek χέω (khéō, “to pour”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is in Plautus' Curculio: “so that master doesn't hear the hinges creak, I'll pour a little water on them”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short note that it is mostly early and post-Augustan.[3] It means to pour a liquid on or in, and to make a liquid well up, as Mela's sea showing in pits dug deep; it is used especially of blood rising to the face and of gleams of light or colour, as Lucretius' eyes red with suffused light.[2] With an ablative it is to cover or fill with something welling up, as Lucretius' ditches filled with salt water, and Cicero uses it of air suffused with even warmth and of the soul as blood spread round the heart.[2][3] Tibullus' farmer is painted with red, and Celsus uses it of an abscess spreading beneath the skin.[2] English suffuse (1580s) comes from its participle.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of water poured on hinges.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of eyes red with light.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of air suffused with warmth.[2][6]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus of an abscess spreading.[2][6]
  • 1580s – English suffuse comes from its participle.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pour a liquid on or in.[2][3][1]
  2. To make a liquid well up; of blood, light or colour, to rise into, suffuse.[2][3][1]
  3. To cover or fill with something welling up; to overspread.[2][3]
  4. To spread beneath.[2]

Word family

  • suffūsiō

Usage notes

A rare first-conjugation suffundō, -āre, from sub- and fundō (“to found”), means to lay a foundation under a house.[2]

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 m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de