incoho Latin · revision 31684

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=derivation|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=la cohum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɪŋ.ko.(ɦ)oː]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''incohō''' (present infinitive incohāre, perfect active incohāvī, supine incohātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ The spelling ''inchoō'' is common in manuscripts and editions, but early inscriptions such as Augustus' ''Res gestae'' have ''incohō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[in-]] and [[cohum]], a rare word recorded by grammarians.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan notes that ⟨cohum⟩ “vault of the sky” is attested only in Ennius and the glosses and its first meaning is obscure;^(de Vaan 2008) Varro linked it with [[cavus|t=hollow]] and Paulus with [[cohibeō|t=to hold together]].^(de Vaan 2008) He suggests the verb first meant something like yoking a plough to a team of oxen, “to start work”, and reconstructs [[itc-pro|*koχo-|t=hole; tie, juncture]]; possible cognates are [[cy|cae|t=fence]] and [[goh|hag|t=hedge, fence]].^(de Vaan 2008) Etymonline calls the original sense probably “to hitch up”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Ennius,^(de Vaan 2008) who in a tragedy speaks of the beginning of building a ship.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means “to start making, begin work on”, a building or a ship, and to make a first draft or sketch: Cicero tells his brother he has begun the books he is waiting for but cannot finish them.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is used of bringing a living thing into being and of founding an institution, then generally “to set on foot, initiate”, to begin to treat a topic, and in Statius to begin to speak.^(OLD 2012) Of things it is to mark the beginning of something, as Manilius' constellation that closes winter while the next begins spring; in the passive it is “to begin”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin uses the spelling ''inchoō''.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of beginning a ship.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of drafting books.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 45–96 AD – Statius of beginning to speak.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1530s – English [[m|en|inchoate]] is formed from the participle ''inchoātus''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To start making, begin work on; to [[m|en|draft]], [[m|en|sketch]] out; to found.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To set on foot, [[m|en|initiate]]; to begin to treat; to begin to speak.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To enter on a period or office.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Of things, to mark the beginning of;^(OLD 2012) ''(passive)'' to begin.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[incohāmenta]]

+ * [[incohātiō]]

+ * [[incohātīvus]]

+ * [[incohātor]]

+ * [[incohātus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cohum]]

+ * [[en|inchoate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}