Etymologically
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sumministro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊm.mɪˈnɪs.troː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [sum.miˈnis.tro][1]

Forms

sumministrō (present infinitive sumministrāre, perfect active sumministrāvī, supine sumministrātum); first conjugation[1] The OLD enters it as subministrō, with summ- as a variant.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + ministrō (“to serve, supply”).[2][1] De Vaan derives ministrō from minister “servant”, which goes back to Proto-Italic *minos-tero-, built on Proto-Italic *minōs (“less”), the source of minor “smaller”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotation in the OLD is Cicero's, of weapons thrown openly and supplied in secret.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is to supply, furnish or afford: Cicero writes to his brother, who supplies him with letter-carriers, Caesar the Lingones supplying grain and help sent to the enemy, Vitruvius water supplied, and Pliny the Elder a well that supplied Hannibal with three hundred pounds of silver a day.[2][3] Things can be the subject, as soil that supplies moisture to roots, and so can abstract things, as in Seneca's peace itself will supply fears.[2] The Bellum Africum uses it of sending fresh cavalry as reinforcements to the weary.[2][3] An inscription uses it of acting as an assistant.[2] Church Latin glosses it to minister, supply or furnish.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of weapons supplied in secret.[2][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of grain and reinforcements.[2][6]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of a water supply.[2][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of peace supplying fears.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To supply, furnish, afford (to).[2][3][1][5]
  2. To send as reinforcements.[2][3]
  3. (intransitive) To act as an assistant.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. ^ 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