tristis

Forms

trīstis (neuter trīste, comparative trīstior, superlative trīstissimus, adverb trīste); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][3][1] Hill connected it with the Germanic words for “bold”, such as Old English þrīste, Old High German drīsti and Old Saxon thrīsti, through a preform Proto-Italic *trenksti-; de Vaan objects that this preform could only have given ⟨*trēsti-⟩ in Latin, and knows no better etymology.^[2] Wiktionary also lists comparisons with Ancient Greek δριμύς (drimús, “sharp, bitter”) and Old Church Slavonic дрѧхлъ (dręxlŭ, “sad”).^[1] Lewis and Short compared terreō “to frighten”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.^[2][5] Ennius already has it of a gloomy heart: haud temere est quod tū trīstī cum corde gubernās, “it is not for nothing that you steer with a sad heart”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Trīstis is first “depressed, gloomy, unhappy”, of people and of the face or bearing that shows it.^[3][4] It then describes situations and feelings marked by distress, “bitter”; a temper that is “sullen, morose” or “cross” with someone; and, approvingly, a manner that is “stern, solemn, austere”, as of a strict judge or an old-fashioned style of speaking.^[3] Of events, news and omens it means “grim, dreadful” (a court's adverse verdict is euphemistically the trīstis littera), and of colours, shade and places “gloomy, dismal”.^[3] It also means “harsh, bitter” of taste and “offensive” of smell.^[1]

In Church Latin it keeps the plain sense “sad, sorrowful, dejected”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: numquam ego tē trīstiōrem vīdī esse, “I have never seen you gloomier”.^[3][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: trīstī cum corde.^[3][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence speaks of the trīstis sevēritās in someone's face.^[3][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius: trīste leōnum sēminium, “the grim breed of lions”.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil: quō trīstis Erīnys … vocat, “where the grim Fury calls”.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sad, gloomy, unhappy, dejected (also in one's looks).^[3][4][6]
2. Marked by distress, bitter (of situations and feelings).^[3]
3. Ill-humoured, morose; cross (with someone); unfriendly.^[3]
4. Stern, solemn, austere.^[3][4]
5. Grim, dreadful, ill-omened (of events, news, signs).^[3]
6. Dismal, sombre (of colours, shade and places).^[3]
7. Harsh, bitter (of taste); offensive (of smell).^[1]

Word family

• pertrīstis
• subtrīstis
• tristiculus
• trīstificus
• trīstimōnia
• trīstitās
• trīstitia
• trīstitūdō
• trīstor
• trīstitiēs
• contrīstō
• trīstē

Usage notes

Lewis and Short list maestus, sevērus, austērus and luctuōsus among its near-synonyms.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
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 d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson