assero Latin · revision 32467

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *ser-e/o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈas.sɛ.roː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈas.se.ro]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''asserō''' (present infinitive asserere, perfect active asseruī, supine assertum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''adserō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ad-|serō|t1=to|t2=to join, string together]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|serō]] to [[itc-pro|*sere/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*ser-e/o-|t=to thread, tie together]], comparing [[grc|εἴρω|tr=eírō|t=to knit together]].^(de Vaan 2008) He also cites [[osc|aserum|t=to lay onto]], used with the word for “hand”, which matches the Latin legal phrase manum asserere.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first, in the ''Persa'': “claim her from the pimp by laying your hand on her”.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its core is to join to oneself, and above all it is a legal term: manū asserere is to lay hands on a person and claim him, as free (in lībertātem, līberālī causā) or as a slave (in servitūtem).^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Plautus has both, and Livy tells of a man who claimed a girl as his slave.^(OLD 2012) From freeing by claim it came to mean simply to set free, as when Ovid says he has freed himself and fled his chains.^(OLD 2012) It also means to claim for oneself or attribute to someone, as in Ovid's “do not claim my praises”, to defend or protect, as in Velleius, and in Martial to assert or maintain.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it to assert, remark, claim.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of claiming a girl by laying hands on her.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of claiming a girl as a slave.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of setting oneself free and of claiming praise.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1600 – English [[m|en|assert]] is formed from its past participle.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # manum asserere, to lay hands on.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(law)'' To claim a person as free or as a slave by laying hands on him.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To set free, [[m|en|liberate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|claim]] for oneself, arrogate; to attribute to someone.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To defend, protect, preserve.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|assert]], allege, maintain.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[assertiō]]

+ * [[assertor]]

+ * [[assertorius]]

+ * [[assertum]]

+ * [[assertus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[disserō]]

+ * [[īnserō]]

+ * [[interserō]]

+ * [[prōserō]]

+ * [[serō]]

+ * [[subserō]]

+ * [[exserō]]

+ * [[en|assert]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A rare separate verb asserō, assēvī, assitum, “to plant near”, is made from [[sero|alt=serō]] “to sow”; it is found in Cato and Varro, of vines planted beside other plants, and not in Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}