Etymologically
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vanesco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [waːˈneːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [vaˈnɛs.ko][1]

Forms

vānēscō (present infinitive vānēscere); third conjugation, no passive, no perfect or supine stems[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vānus (“empty”) + -ēscō, an inchoative.[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *wāno- or ⟨*wā̆sno-⟩ for vānus and compares Sanskrit ऊन (ūná-, “empty”).[4] Wiktionary compares the parallel development of Proto-Germanic *wanōną, the source of English wane.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotation is in Catullus, who asks that grief not be allowed to come to nothing.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to become insubstantial, melt into nothing, vanish, mostly in poetry and post-Augustan prose: Ovid has heavy clouds beginning to vanish, grain turning into barren grass, and a spirit vanishing into thin air, and Tacitus everything turning to ash.[2][3] Of immaterial things it is to pass into oblivion, as in Ovid's your fault vanishes when balanced by another.[2] Of actions it is to come to nothing or become of no account.[2]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of grief coming to nothing.[2][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of clouds and a spirit vanishing.[2][3][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of everything turning to ash.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To vanish, disappear, melt away into nothing.[2][3][1]
  2. Of immaterial things, to pass away, be forgotten.[2]
  3. To come to nothing, become ineffectual.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de