verecunde

Forms

verēcundē (comparative verēcundius)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin verēcundus (“restrained, modest”) + -ē.^[1][3][4] De Vaan lists verēcundus among the derivatives of vereor (“to show respect, fear”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *wer-ē- (“to be wary”) and Proto-Indo-European *u(e)r-eh₁- (“to note, sense”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest OLD citation is from Ennius' tragedies: quae tibi in concubio verecunde et modice morem gerit (“who at bedtime humours you with modesty and restraint”).^[1]

Semantic evolution

Cicero has the comparative of those who measure everything by pleasure but go about it too modestly,^[1] and Livy writes of women to be protected as modestly as the wives of hosts;^[1][3] Celsus uses the comparative of speaking about obscene words.^[1] The sense of restraint and diffidence appears in Cicero, who writes of a case taken on hesitantly and with reluctance (verecunde et dubitanter).^[1][2] Ammianus writes that someone was invited to lunch rather modestly (verecundius).^[3]

In British Medieval Latin it continued in the sense “modestly, discreetly” in Alcuin and Anselm, and also came to mean “shamefully” and “shamefacedly”.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in a tragedy.^[1][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of modesty and of diffidence.^[1][8][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of protecting women modestly.^[1][3][7]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses the comparative.^[1][7]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses the comparative of an invitation.^[3][7]
• second half of the 11th century – Anselm uses it of doing something gladly and modestly.^[6][7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. modestly, with a sense of propriety.^[1][3]
2. With restraint, discreetly, diffidently.^[1][8][2]
3. (Medieval Latin) Shamefully; shamefacedly.^[6]

Related words

• verēcundia

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
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 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
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.