morsus Latin · revision 31229

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=ine-pro *h₂mord-(e)ye-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmɔr.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmɔr.sus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''morsus''' ''m'' (genitive morsūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|mordeō|t=to bite]] with the noun suffix [[m|la|-tus]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan takes ⟨mordeō⟩ from [[itc-pro|*mordeje-]], an iterative present [[ine-pro|*h₂mord-(e)ye-|t=to crush, bite]], cognate with [[sa|मर्दित|tr=marditá-|t=crushed]] and [[grc|ἀμέρδω|tr=amérdō|t=to deprive of]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler gives Cato as its first author,^(Köbler 2010) who prescribes pig dung for the wound if a snake has bitten an ox;^(OLD 2012) Accius has the “viper's bite” whose poison fills the veins.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a bite, of an animal or of a person eating, as Cicero's ears of grain protected against the bites of small birds, and also the wound made by a bite;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Statius uses the plural for the jaws.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From biting it is a grip with the teeth and the grip of a hook or anchor, as Virgil's ships held without the “bite” of the anchor's fluke.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ It is the corrosive action of a poison, as Cicero's robe of Deianira that tears the flesh, the pungency of food such as cress, and a sharp pain or pang, also of the mind, as Cicero's “the bites of lost liberty are sharper”.^(OLD 2012) Horace uses it of the gnawing of envy.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it “bite, morsel, biting”, and in medieval Latin it is also a clasp or buckle.^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of a snakebite.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of a viper's bite.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of the grip of an anchor.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bite]]; a wound made by biting;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''(plural)'' the jaws.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A grip with the teeth; the grip of a hook or [[m|en|anchor]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Corrosive action; pungency (of food).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A sharp pain, [[m|en|pang]]; mental pain; the gnawing of envy.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|clasp]], buckle.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[morsiuncula]]

+ * [[morsicō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mordeō]]

+ * [[mordāx]]

+ * [[mōrsum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}