Etymologically
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vorago

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɔˈraː.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [voˈraː.ɡo][1]

Forms

vorāgō f (genitive vorāginis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vorō (“to devour”) + -āgō.[2][3][1] Wiktionary suggests it may come more directly from vorāx (“devouring”), with the ⟨c⟩ turned into ⟨g⟩ before the nasal suffix.[1] De Vaan takes vorō as a verb formed from a noun or adjective Proto-Italic *gʷo/erā-, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷo/erh₃-o/h₂- (“devouring, devoured”), comparing Sanskrit गिरति (giráti, “devours, swallows”) and Ancient Greek βορά (borá, “fodder”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero.[5] In his work on divination a horse sinks in a quagmire.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a deep hole or chasm, open or in the form of a quagmire, and a watery hollow or whirlpool: Virgil has a vast abyss where a gulf seethes.[2][3] Döderlein distinguishes it and ⟨barathrum⟩, an abyss in water, from ⟨vortex⟩ and ⟨gurges⟩, which suppose moving water.[6] Figuratively it is anyone or anything with an endless appetite: Cicero calls a man a boundless abyss and whirlpool of vices.[2] Church Latin glosses it breach, chasm, abyss.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a quagmire and of a man who is an abyss of vices.[3][2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a seething gulf.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A deep hole, chasm, abyss; a quagmire; a whirlpool.[2][3][1][7]
  2. Figuratively, a person or thing with an endless appetite.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson