flexus Latin · revision 31952

+ {{homograph|1|bent}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=itc-pro *flek-t-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''flexus''' (feminine flexa, neuter flexum); first/second-declension adjective^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective “bent” is the perfect passive participle [[der|la|flectō|t=to bend]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan traces [[m|la|flectō]] to [[itc-pro|*flek-t-]], with a suffix ⟨-t-⟩ perhaps added on the model of [[m|la|plectō|t=to plait]] and [[m|la|nectō|t=to tie]]; none of the possible roots has obvious cognates in other Indo-European languages.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first example in the OLD is in Cicero's ''Aratea'', where the Dragon makes bent coils of its body.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is used in the senses of the verb, especially bent, curved or twisting.^(OLD 2012) Of language it is tortuous or obscure, as Seneca's god of Delphi hiding secrets in twisted riddles.^(OLD 2012) Of the voice it means modulated, with a rise and fall of tone, as in Quintilian, and in grammar inflected.^(OLD 2012) In Church Latin ''genu flexo'' is “with knee bent”, kneeling.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the Dragon's coils.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of riddling words.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of a modulated voice.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|bent|alt=Bent]], curved, twisting.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of language, tortuous, obscure.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Of the voice, [[m|en|modulated]]; in grammar, [[m|en|inflected]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' ''genu flexo'', [[m|en|kneeling]].^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ {{homograph|2|bend, turn}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=itc-pro *flek-t-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''flexus''' ''m'' (genitive flexūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun “bend, turn” is [[af|la|flectō|-tus|t1=to bend]], a noun of action.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first examples in the OLD are in Cicero, of the winding passages of the ears and of a turning off a road.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means the act of bending or curving, of curling the hair and of rounding the turning post in a race, and the quality of being bent, as of a statue in Quintilian.^(OLD 2012) It is a change of course, a swerve, as of an eel in Ovid, and the turn of a road or river.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Concretely it is a bend, curve or angle.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Figuratively it is a turning point: Cicero speaks of a young man's reputation faltering at the turning post of life, and it is used of the sun at the end of a season.^(OLD 2012) Quintilian uses it for the point where one clause ends and another begins, and Seneca for the modulation of the voice.^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary also gives a transition or change, and inflection in grammar.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the winding passages of the ears and a turn in a road.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of the turns of an eel.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 34–62 AD – Persius of rounding the turning post.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of modulation of the voice.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bending, curving; the rounding of a turning post.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A turning aside, swerve; a turn of a road or river.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|bend]], [[m|en|curve]], angle.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A turning point; the end of a season.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Modulation of the voice; in grammar, [[m|en|inflection]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flexiloquus]]

+ * [[flexuōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flecto|alt=flectō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}