comminuo Latin · revision 32121

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=ine-pro *mi-n(e)-h₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kɔmˈmɪ.nu.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [komˈmiː.nu.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''comminuō''' (present infinitive comminuere, perfect active comminuī, supine comminūtum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|com-|minuō|t2=to lessen]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|minuō]] to [[itc-pro|*minu-je/o-|t=to lessen]], from a nasal present [[ine-pro|*mi-n(e)-h₁-|t=to make less]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[osc|menvum|t=to lessen]], [[grc|μινύθω|tr=minúthō|t=to lessen]] and [[grc|μείων|tr=meíōn|t=smaller]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's first example is Ennius' ''Annals'': “he smashed his brain with a stone”.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means to break in pieces or shatter, as Plautus' doors and posts broken down with axes, and to break up or pulverize, as the crumbled cake in his ''Stichus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short explain that it makes small either by breaking into parts or by taking parts away from the whole, so it also means to lessen.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Figuratively it is to break or crush: Cicero writes that no duty is so sacred that greed will not shatter it, and of a man crushed by a praetor's power.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it to break into small pieces.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of doors broken with axes and of crumbled cake.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of crushing persons and duties.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To break in pieces, [[m|en|shatter]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To break up, [[m|en|pulverize]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To lessen, diminish.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Figuratively, to smash, [[m|en|crush]]; to break the power of a person.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[comminūtiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}