rapax Latin · revision 31772

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=ine-pro *h₁rep-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈra.paːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈraː.paks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''rapāx''' (genitive rapācis, comparative rapācior, superlative rapācissimus, adverb rapāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[rapiō|t=to snatch, seize]] with the suffix [[m|la|-āx]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan traces ⟨rapiō⟩ to [[itc-pro|*rapiō|alt=*rap-i-|t=to seize]] and [[ine-pro|*h₁rep-|alt=*h1rp-i-|t=to seize]], cognate with [[grc|ἐρέπτομαι|tr=eréptomai|t=to devour]] and [[sq|rjep|t=to tear off, rob]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Ennius has the sweeping wave,^(OLD 2012) and Plautus' ''Menaechmi'' “quarrelsome, grasping, fraudulent men”.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means “given to seizing”, of beasts of prey and of Catullus' Scylla, and as a noun a predator; of rivers and other forces it is “sweeping away”.^(OLD 2012) Of people it is “greedy, rapacious”, as in Plautus, and without blame of nature, which Cicero says seeks out nothing so greedily as its like.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''Rapax'' was also the title of a legion in Tacitus.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “ravening, rapacious, greedy”, and as a noun “extortioner”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of a sweeping wave.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of grasping men.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus of the legion called Rapax.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – English [[m|en|rapacious]] is formed from its stem.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Given to seizing prey; as a noun, a [[m|en|predator]]; of forces, sweeping away.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|greedy|alt=Greedy]], [[m|en|rapacious]], grasping.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' An [[m|en|extortioner]].^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rapācida]]

+ * [[rapācitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rapiō]]

+ * [[en|rapacious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}