Etymologically
Log in

tabesco

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word tabesco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*teh₂-bʰ-eh₁-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [taːˈbeːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [taˈbɛs.ko][1]

Forms

tābēscō (present infinitive tābēscere, perfect active tābuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tābeō (“to melt away, waste”) + -scō, an inchoative.[2][1] De Vaan traces tābeō to Proto-Italic *tāf-ē- (“to be melting”) and Proto-Indo-European *teh₂-bʰ-eh₁- (“to be melting”), comparing Doric τάκω (tákō, “to melt”) and Old Irish taïd (“to melt, dissolve”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus, the only author with the original sense to melt;[3] a tragedy of his says that praise goes to virtue but melts away much faster than spring frost.[2]

Semantic evolution

From melting away the sense moved to wasting away, the basis of all later uses.[3] Cato has salt dissolve, Cicero moisture melt with heat, and Pliny the Elder a juice dry up.[2][4] Of people it is to waste, pine or dwindle away, often in mind: Catullus has eyes that never cease to waste with weeping.[2] It is used of time and possessions too, as Lucretius' lengthening days and dwindling nights.[2] It is also to rot or putrefy, as Lucretius' body decaying with a foul smell.[2] Church Latin glosses it to melt, languish or be slowly consumed.[5]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus of frost melting.[2][3][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of salt dissolving.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of dwindling nights and a rotting body.[2][6]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of eyes wasting with tears.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To melt away; to dissolve; to dry up.[2][4][1][5]
  2. To waste, pine or dwindle away; of time or property, to diminish.[2][4][1]
  3. To rot, putrefy.[2]

Word family

  • contābēscō
  • distābescō
  • extābēscō
  • intābēscō
  • pertābescō

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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
Cite this entry

“Tabesco.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/tabesco. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·