suo

Forms

suō (present infinitive suere, perfect active suī, supine sūtum); third conjugation, third person-only in the passive^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *s(j)ūje/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *siuH-ie/o- (“to sew”).^[2] De Vaan explains the Sanskrit forms as keeping traces of an older sequence *siHu-, which was metathesised to *siuH- in some positions; the present then lost its first *i and became *sūi̯e/o-, and ⟨sū-⟩ spread to the past participle.^[2] Why ⟨ū⟩ did not become ⟨ī⟩ before the glide is disputed: Meiser assumes a dissimilatory retention, while de Vaan suggests that ⟨ū⟩ was restored from derivatives in ⟨sū-⟩.^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit सीव्यति (sī́vyati, “sews”), Lithuanian siū́ti, Latvian šũt and Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (siujan, “to sew”).^[2][1] The OLD also names English sew.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Terence on,^[2] but the earliest passage the OLD cites is a fragment of a tragedy by Pacuvius, where a ship's hull is sewn together with flax and cords of broom (suta lino et sparteis serilibus).^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to make something by stitching or sewing, and was used of garments, sewn shoes and trousers, and of boats and beehives sewn together.^[3][4] Terence used it figuratively, of mischief “stitched” onto someone's head (ne quid suo suat capiti), that is, devised.^[4] The neuter plural of the past participle, sūta, meant mail or armour made of joined plates.^[3][4] In medicine it meant to sew up a wound.^[3]

The derivatives sūtor “shoemaker” and cōnsuō “sew together, plan” are already in Plautus.^[2]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius speaks of a ship's hull sewn with flax and broom.^[3][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it figuratively, of devising mischief.^[4][2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil calls a coat of mail aerea suta.^[3][4][5]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it for sewing up a wound.^[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sew, stitch; to make by sewing together.^[3][4]
2. (neuter plural of the past participle, as a noun) A coat of mail made of joined plates.^[3][4]
3. (surgery) To sew up, suture.^[3]
4. (figurative) To devise, contrive.^[4][1]

Word family

• assuō
• circumsūtus
• cōnsuō
• desuo
• dissuō
• īnsuō
• obsuō
• praesuō
• resuō
• sūbula
• sūtēla
• sūtilis

Related words

• sūtōrīcius
• sūtōrius
• sūtrīballus
• sūtrīna
• sūtrīnum
• sūtrīnus
• sūtrīx
• English sew

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de