tractim

Forms

tractim (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin trahō (“to drag, draw”) + -tim,^[1][2] and Lewis and Short derive it from the participle tractus.^[3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of trahō, which he traces to Proto-Italic *traχe/o-; its closest cognates are Celtic, such as Old Irish tráig (“ebb, beach”), which go back to a sense “to pull away”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Ennius,^[5] whose Annales are quoted with it by Macrobius;^[3] Plautus' Amphitruo has a slave ask quid si ego illum tractim tangam, ut dormiat?, “what if I stroke him slowly, so that he sleeps?”^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

It describes something done in a long-drawn-out way.^[2] Lucretius uses it of death creeping little by little through the other limbs,^[7][8] and Virgil's Georgics of bees humming in a long, drawn-out murmur.^[3][6] Lewis and Short note that it belongs to poetry and post-Augustan prose:^[3] Seneca uses it in his letters for slowly,^[6] and Gellius of the letter ⟨i⟩ pronounced long.^[8][6]

Glossaries explain it as continuously, without a break,^[9] and in medieval Latin tractim canere was to sing in a slow, lingering melody.^[9] British writers used it for in a drawn-out manner, of walking or sounding slowly.^[10]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in the Annales.^[3][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of stroking someone slowly.^[3][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of death spreading little by little.^[7][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the drawn-out humming of bees.^[3][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a vowel pronounced long.^[8][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. By drawing along; little by little, by degrees.^[3][7]
2. In a long-drawn-out manner, slowly, with a drawl.^[2][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) Continuously;^[9] (of singing) in a slow, lingering way.^[9]

Related words

• tractus
• tractō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
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 c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press