compesco Latin · revision 31142

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la parcō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kɔmˈpɛs.koː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [komˈpɛs.ko]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''compescō''' (present infinitive compescere, perfect active compescuī, supine compescitum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''conpescō''.^(OLD 2012)

+ Priscian gives a supine ''compescitum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It goes back to ⟨*comparc-scō⟩, an inchoative of [[m|la|con-]] and [[m|la|parcō|t=to spare, refrain]], compare [[m|la|compercō|t=to save up]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) medial ⟨a⟩ was reduced to ⟨e⟩ and the cluster ⟨-rcsc-⟩ simplified to ⟨-sc-⟩.^(Wiktionary) De Vaan finds no agreed etymology for ⟨parcō⟩; one view derives it from [[itc-pro|*pe-arke/o-]], “to hold off”, from the root of [[m|la|arceō|t=to keep off]], [[ine-pro|*h₂erk-|t=to hold]].^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis and Short connected it with [[m|la|compēs|t=fetter]], and Döderlein with [[m|la|pedica|t=fetter]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD cites Plautus' ''Poenulus'' and ''Bacchides'' among its first examples.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is to confine or restrain, as Horace's river of the underworld that “confines” Geryon and Tityos, to hold in physically, as Propertius' girl who cannot restrain her eyes, and to close an entrance.^(OLD 2012) Virgil uses it of checking the growth of vines by pruning and of arresting a disease with the knife, and Ovid of quenching fire with fire.^(OLD 2012) It is to steady or calm, to check any activity, as Ovid's “cautious fear checks my duty”, to control a person, and to subdue an enemy.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Lewis and Short call it mostly poetic or post-Augustan and absent from Cicero.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin glosses it “restrain, withhold, fasten together”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of pruning and of checking disease.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of confining.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of quenching fire.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To confine, restrain; to close, block.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # To check (growth, fire, disease); to prune.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To calm, steady; to check, [[m|en|curb]] (an activity, a person).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To subdue, [[m|en|quell]] (an enemy).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parcō]]

+ * [[compercō]]

+ * [[coerceō]]

+ * [[reprimō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein says that [[coerceō]] restrains by power and superior strength, ''compescō'' by authority and wisdom.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}