verno

Forms

vē̆rnō (present infinitive vē̆rnāre, perfect active vē̆rnāvī, supine vē̆rnātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vernus (“of spring”) + -ō.^[2][1] De Vaan traces vēr (“spring”) to Proto-Italic *wes-or and Proto-Indo-European *ues-r/n- (“spring”); he lets vernus continue either a form with ⟨-ino-⟩ or, following Nussbaum, a formation from the locative of that noun.^[3] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἔαρ (éar, “spring”), Lithuanian vãsara (“summer”) and Old Norse vár (“spring”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short describe it as poetic and post-Augustan prose.^[4] Among the authors the dictionaries cite, the earliest are Propertius, of youthful blood (dum vernat sanguis, “while the blood is young”), and Ovid, of the earth turning green again (vernat humus).^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Ovid also says of a bird that it starts to sing again in spring.^[4][6] Pliny the Elder uses it of trees and shrubs coming into leaf, of a snake shedding its skin, and of the climate: in Italy the air is always somehow like spring or autumn.^[4][6][7] Columella has blooming lilies,^[4] Martial a field that rings with the chirping sparrow and a young man's cheeks covered with the first down,^[4][6] and Seneca's Hercules Oetaeus a grove ordered to put out leaves in midwinter.^[5]

Venantius Fortunatus has a deponent vernor.^[6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means “flourish”,^[8] and Erasmus used it in a letter of an autumn as mild as spring.^[9] In 15th-century music theory Franchinus Gafurius used it of holding a tone at one pitch, as in the bagpipe.^[10]

Timeline

• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of youthful blood.^[5][6][11]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the earth turning green and of a bird singing again.^[4][6][11]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of trees, snakes and the climate.^[4][6][11]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a young man's first beard.^[6][11]
• 15th century – Gafurius uses it of sustaining a tone.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (of the earth or plants) To grow green, bloom in spring; to renew itself.^[2][4][7]
2. (of the weather) To be like spring.^[7][6]
3. (of a bird) To begin singing again;^[4][6][7] (of a snake) to slough its skin.^[4][6][7]
4. (figurative) To be young and vigorous;^[6][7][5] (of the cheeks) to grow the first down.^[6][7][5]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To flourish.^[8]
6. (music, 15th century) To sustain a tone at the same pitch.^[10]

Word family

• vernātiō

Related words

• vēr
• vē̆rnālis
• vē̆rnus

Usage notes

The OLD has a separate adverb vernō “in spring”, formed from vernus and used by Cato and Pliny the Elder.^[2][5][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
10. ^ a b c Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
11. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de