traicio

Forms

trāiciō (present infinitive trāicere, perfect active trāiēcī, supine trāiectum); third (-iō variant) conjugation^[1] It is also spelled trāiiciō, trānsiciō and trānsiiciō, Caesar always writes trānsiciō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin trāns- (“across”) + iaciō (“to throw”).^[3][1][4] De Vaan traces ⟨iaciō⟩ to Proto-Italic *jaki- (“to throw”) and Proto-Indo-European *Hih₁-k- (“to throw, let go”), a present of the root of Ancient Greek ἵημι (híēmi, “to send, throw”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest examples are in Cato, of threading a branch through a vessel in On Agriculture and of carrying pigs across in a cart in his history.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

It is to throw across or shoot over, as Caesar's missiles that could not reach across a river, to lay something across, as Varro's perches in a cage, and to pierce or transfix, as Balventius, whose thighs were both pierced by a javelin.^[3][2] It is to transfer a thing or oneself from one place to another, words to another place in a sentence (Cicero), or business to another person, to convey people or animals across, and to cross a sea, a region or the sky, as Virgil's Dawn who had passed the middle of heaven.^[3]

Its participle ⟨trāiectus⟩, “thrown across”, is the source of New Latin trāiectōrium, whence English trajectory (1690s).^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato of threading a branch and carrying pigs.^[3][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of perches laid across.^[3][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of missiles and wounds.^[3][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of Dawn crossing the sky.^[3][6]
• 1690s – English trajectory.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To throw across; to shoot over.^[3][1][2]
2. To place across (a bar, bridge).^[3]
3. To pierce, transfix.^[3][1]
4. To thrust through; to thread.^[3]
5. To transfer, shift; to transpose (words).^[3][1]
6. To carry across, transport.^[3][1]
7. To cross (a sea, a region); (intransitive) to cross over.^[3][1]

Word family

• trāiectīcius
• trāiectiō
• trājector
• trāiectōrium
• trāiectūra
• trāiectus

Related words

• abiciō
• adiciō
• circumiciō
• cōniciō
• dēiciō
• disiciō
• ēiciō
• iaciō
• iniciō
• intericiō
• trāns
• English trajectory

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de