verecundia

Forms

verēcundia f (genitive verēcundiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from verēcundus (“modest, bashful”) with the suffix -ia.^[2][1] De Vaan lists both among the derivatives of vereor (“to respect, fear”), from Proto-Italic *werē- (“to be wary”) and Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to note, sense”).^[3] Cognate with Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍂𐍃 (wars, “careful”) and Old English wær (“careful”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author,^[3] in the Mostellaria, where idleness has “thrown down my sense of shame and the measure of virtue”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is restraint arising from respect for others or proper humility, as Cicero's “whoever has once crossed the bounds of modesty had better be thoroughly shameless”, deference toward a person, as in Livy, and reluctance to do something, as Cicero's “reluctance to refuse”.^[2] It is also diffidence or shyness, as Cicero's “maidenly bashfulness”, a sense of shame before dishonour, as in Plautus, a sense of decency before what is coarse, and in general moderation.^[2][4]

In Church Latin it is modesty or shame; in medieval Latin it also came to mean an outrage or insult, and a disgraceful punishment.^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a sense of shame.^[2][3][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of restraint, diffidence and decency.^[2][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of deference.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Restraint, modesty; deference, respect; reluctance (to do something).^[2][1][4]
2. Shyness, diffidence, bashfulness.^[2][1]
3. A sense of shame; a sense of decency.^[2][1][5]
4. Moderation.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) An outrage, insult; a disgraceful punishment.^[6]

Related words

• vereor
• verēcundus
• pudor

Usage notes

Döderlein says that verērī is respect bordering on fear and bashfulness, while reverērī (from revereor) is reverence.^[8] Lewis and Short list pudor, pudīcitia and castitās as near-synonyms.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper