aspergo Latin · revision 31666
19 Oct 2026, 15:56 by bogdan “Latin la10k la75t b06” current version
Initial text
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+ {{homograph|1|to sprinkle}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=la spargō}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * Classical: [asˈpɛr.ɡoː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * Ecclesiastical: [asˈpɛr.ɡo]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''aspergō''' (present infinitive aspergere, perfect active aspersī, supine aspersum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)
+ It is also spelled ''adspergō'' and, in Varro, Columella and inscriptions, ''aspargō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The verb is [[af|la|ad-|spargō|t2=to scatter, strew]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) De Vaan traces ⟨spargō⟩ to [[itc-pro|*sparg-]] and [[ine-pro|*sper-|alt=*sp(e)r-g-|t=to strew]], cognate with [[hit|išpār-|t=to spread out, strew]] and [[grc|σπείρω|tr=speírō|t=to strew, sow]]; he doubts the usual link with words for crackling sounds.^(de Vaan 2008)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ De Vaan dates the compound from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008) In Ennius' ''Annals'' water is sprinkled on the Latins to revive them.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It is “to sprinkle or strew on”, and “to besprinkle, splash” something with a liquid: Varro says bees should be sprinkled with honey water.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is to cast a slur on someone, or with an ablative to stain or sully: Cicero speaks of someone untouched not only by suspicion but even by rumour.^(OLD 2012) It is also to add a little of something, as Cicero's wit sprinkled into a kind of speech, and to bestow a trifling share, as a testator leaving a man a seventy-second part.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ Church Latin glosses it “to sprinkle”.^(Stelten 1995) English [[m|en|asperse]] (late 15th century) comes from its past participle; its sense “to slander” is from the 1610s.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of sprinkling water.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of sprinkling bees.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a slur and of sprinkled wit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * late 15th century – English [[m|en|asperse]].^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Verb===
+ # To [[m|en|sprinkle]] or strew on; to besprinkle, [[m|en|splash]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)
+ # To cast a slur on; to stain, sully, [[m|en|asperse]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # To add a little of; to bestow a trifling share.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[aspersiō]]
+
+ {{homograph|2|a sprinkling}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=la spargō}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * Classical: [asˈpɛr.ɡoː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * Ecclesiastical: [asˈpɛr.ɡo]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''aspergō''' ''f'' (genitive asperginis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+ It is also spelled ''aspargō'' (Statius, Callistratus).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The noun is formed from the verb [[aspergō#1]] “to sprinkle”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who says that, so treated, damp will not harm it nor mice burrow into it.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It is the sprinkling or scattering of a liquid, and the spray or drops themselves: Ovid tells how the tree's fruit turned dark from the spattering of blood.^(OLD 2012) The jurists use it of damage by water, and Fronto of being bespattered with disgrace.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ Church Latin glosses it “a sprinkling”.^(Stelten 1995)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of damp.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of spattered blood.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|sprinkling]], spattering; spray, drops.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)
+ # Damage by water.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A bespattering with disgrace.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[spargō]]
+ * [[en|asperse]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}