supprimo

Forms

supprimō (present infinitive supprimere, perfect active suppressī, supine suppressum); third conjugation^[1] It is also spelled subprimō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + premō (“to press”).^[2][1] De Vaan derives ⟨premō⟩ from Proto-Italic *pres- and Proto-Indo-European *pr-es- (“to press”), perhaps an ⟨s⟩-present to a root meaning “to hit”, which he calls guesswork; he compares Lithuanian per̃ti (“to beat, lash”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it in the sense of stopping an activity: someone will perish “unless you stop your foolish talk”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to press down or under, and in Livy especially to sink ships.^[2][3] More often it is to check or hold back: in Caesar a pursuing enemy is checked and forced to turn back, and Propertius says the stone itself would stop Niobe's tears.^[2] It is also to stifle the voice or feelings, as Ovid's voice cut off in mid-sound.^[2] Cicero uses it of keeping back money due to others, and later writers of detaining a person, withholding a document or suppressing news, as Curtius' letter kept back from the king.^[2]

Church Latin has it for detain, hold down, sink, check, stop, keep secret.^[5] English suppress (late 14th century) is from its participle suppressus.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of stopping foolish talk.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of withholding money.^[2][7]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of checking an enemy.^[2][7]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy of sinking ships.^[2][3][7]
• late 14th century – English suppress.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To press down or under; to sink a ship; to humble oneself.^[2][3][1][5]
2. To check, hold back, stop; to stanch a flow.^[2][1][5]
3. To stifle the voice; to suppress feelings.^[2][1]
4. To keep back money or goods; to detain a person.^[2][1]
5. To withhold a document or news, keep secret.^[2][5]

Word family

• suppressiō
• suppressor

Related words

• premō
• opprimō
• English suppress

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d 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 c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de