gemo Latin · revision 30721

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɡɛ.moː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈd͡ʒɛː.mo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gemō''' (present infinitive gemere, perfect active gemuī, supine gemitum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Most scholars, and Lewis & Short, connected it with [[grc|γέμω|tr=gémō|t=to be full]], from a root meaning “to grasp, press”, but de Vaan finds the change from that to “groan” hard to imagine.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) He reports instead Vine's link with [[m|grc|γέγωνα|tr=gégōna|t=to shout so as to be heard]] and [[xto|ken-|t=to call]], from a root ⟨*Gen(H)-⟩ “to call”, whose ⟨n⟩ would have become ⟨m⟩ after verbs such as [[m|la|fremō]] and [[m|la|tremō]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus, ''Amphitruo'': none of us heard your wife ''neque gementem neque plōrantem'', “either groaning or wailing”.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Gemō'' is to groan or moan in pain, grief or effort, and is used of animals such as lions (Lucretius).^(OLD 2012) Poets apply it to things that give out a deep, hollow sound: the shores of the Bosporus (Horace), a boat groaning under a heavy load (Virgil), a threshing floor under the flails, a trumpet, a forest.^(OLD 2012) Transitively it is to lament or bemoan something, and with an accusative and infinitive to groan that something has happened (Cicero).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Döderlein contrasts [[suspīrō|alt=suspīrāre]], to sigh, an involuntary deep breath from an afflicted heart, with ''gemere'', to groan, which is more of a voluntary act.^(Döderlein 1874) Church Latin glosses it “lament, sigh, groan”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a groaning wife.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of groaning lions.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a boat groaning under its load.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of groaning over a decree.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|groan]], [[m|en|moan]], sigh.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(of animals)'' To groan, roar.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(of things)'' To creak, resound, make a hollow sound.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|bemoan]], [[m|en|lament]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[circumgemō]]

+ * [[congemō]]

+ * [[gemebundus]]

+ * [[gemitōrius]]

+ * [[gemitus]]

+ * [[ingemō]]

+ * [[regemō]]

+ * [[adgemō]]

+ * [[congemīscō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}