Etymologically
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urinor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [uːˈriː.nɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [uˈriː.nor][1]

Forms

ūrīnor (present infinitive ūrīnārī, perfect active ūrīnātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1] An active form ūrīnō, ūrīnāre is also found.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ūrīna.[2][1] De Vaan takes the sense of the verb as proof that “urine” is a secondary meaning of the noun, whose original sense must have been “water”; he traces the noun to Proto-Italic *ūr-īno- (“watery”) and Proto-Indo-European *u(e/o)h1-r (“water”).[4][1] He also reports the suggestion of Oleson that divers produce more urine while diving, which may explain the verb.[4]

Cognate with Sanskrit वार् (vā́r-, “water”) and Old Norse úr (“drizzle”).[4] Georges likewise compares the Sanskrit word for water.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in On the Latin Language, defines the active form: urinare est mergi in aquam, “to urinate is to plunge into water”.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The active ūrīnō is the older form, used by Varro;[3][2][6] Cicero and Pliny the Elder use the deponent.[3][2][6] Cicero speaks of divers as those who plunge under water, and Pliny of frogs that stay under water for a long time.[5] The agent noun ūrīnātor “diver” is attested from Varro and Livy on.[4]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro defines the active urinare.[3][6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the deponent of divers.[3][5]
  • 23/24–79 – Pliny the Elder uses it of frogs and of divers.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To plunge under water, to dive.[2][3][5]

Word family

  • ūrīnātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier