tenebricus

Forms

tenebricus (feminine tenebrica, neuter tenebricum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tenebrae (“darkness”) + -icus,^[1][2] though the OLD and VOLI take it as a back-formation from tenebricōsus (“dark”), the OLD with a “perhaps”.^[3][4] tenebrae goes back to Proto-Italic *temasrā- (“darkness”) and Proto-Indo-European *temH-s-ro- (“dark”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a fragment of Pacuvius' tragedies, where a speaker threatens to torment someone with hunger in tenebrica, “in darkness”.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The word is very rare.^[6] Cicero uses it in a verse translation of Sophocles, of the dark region of Tartarus (Tartarea tenebrica plaga).^[3][6] Tertullian applies it to a dark garment, in the sense “dark-coloured, black”.^[6][8][9]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it of a place of darkness.^[3][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the dark region of Tartarus.^[3][7]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a dark garment.^[6][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Shrouded in darkness, dark, gloomy.^[3][6]
2. (Late Latin) Dark-coloured, black (of clothing).^[8][9][6]

Word family

• tenebricōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier