Etymologically
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sustollo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊsˈtɔl.loː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [susˈtɔl.lo][1]

Forms

sustollō (present infinitive sustollere); third conjugation, no perfect or supine stems[1] It has no perfect or supine of its own in use: the forms ⟨sustulī⟩ and ⟨sublātum⟩ serve as the perfect and supine of tollō, and the OLD files all their examples there.[2][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin subs- (“up from under”) + tollō (“to lift”), with the form ⟨subs-⟩ of the prefix sub-.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces the simple verb to the present Proto-Italic *tolna/o- and the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *tl-n(e)-h₂- (“to carry”).[4] Cognate with Old Irish tlenaid (“to lift, take away”) and Ancient Greek ἔτλην (étlēn, “endured”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first examples are in Plautus,[2][5] whose Cistellaria has amiculum hoc sustolle, “lift up this cloak”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is to raise on high.[2][6] In Plautus a character says that a soldier, if he knew, would lift this whole house up and the man onto the cross,[2] and another remarks that Greek columns are usually raised up, which Lewis and Short take to mean set on a high pedestal.[3] Catullus has white sails hoisted by twisted ropes, Lucretius a machine that lifts great weights with a light effort, and Ovid a face raised grimly to the sky.[2] Seneca uses it of someone who takes the burdens of adversity on a stiff neck.[6] Plautus also uses it of snatching a person away, the master's daughter carried off from the racecourse.[2][6]

Lewis and Short call the verb ante- and post-classical.[3] In late writers it means to build, in the Theodosian Code, and to take away or abolish: Arnobius uses it of removal from a place and Lactantius of abolishing a census.[3][6][7] Ecclesiastical Latin kept the senses of raising, building and removing.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of lifting a cloak and of carrying off a girl.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a machine that lifts heavy weights.[2][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of hoisting sails.[2][5]
  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of abolishing a census.[6][7][5]
  • 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it of erecting a new building.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To raise on high, lift up; to hoist.[2][6]
  2. To snatch away, kidnap (a person).[2][6]
  3. (Late Latin) To build, erect.[3][8]
  4. (Late Latin) To take away, remove; to abolish.[3][6][7]

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