tabesco Latin · revision 32966

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus|origins=ine-pro *teh₂-bʰ-eh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [taːˈbeːs.koː]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tābēscō''' (present infinitive tābēscere, perfect active tābuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|tābeō|-scō|t1=to melt away, waste]], an inchoative.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|tābeō]] to [[itc-pro|*tāf-ē-|t=to be melting]] and [[ine-pro|*teh₂-bʰ-eh₁-|t=to be melting]], comparing Doric [[m|grc|τάκω|tr=tákō|t=to melt]] and [[sga|taïd|t=to melt, dissolve]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus, the only author with the original sense to melt;^(de Vaan 2008) a tragedy of his says that praise goes to virtue but melts away much faster than spring frost.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From melting away the sense moved to wasting away, the basis of all later uses.^(de Vaan 2008) Cato has salt dissolve, Cicero moisture melt with heat, and Pliny the Elder a juice dry up.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of people it is to waste, pine or dwindle away, often in mind: Catullus has eyes that never cease to waste with weeping.^(OLD 2012) It is used of time and possessions too, as Lucretius' lengthening days and dwindling nights.^(OLD 2012) It is also to rot or putrefy, as Lucretius' body decaying with a foul smell.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it to melt, languish or be slowly consumed.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus of frost melting.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of salt dissolving.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of dwindling nights and a rotting body.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of eyes wasting with tears.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|melt]] away; to dissolve; to dry up.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # To waste, [[m|en|pine]] or dwindle away; of time or property, to diminish.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To rot, [[m|en|putrefy]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contābēscō]]

+ * [[distābescō]]

+ * [[extābēscō]]

+ * [[intābēscō]]

+ * [[pertābescō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tabeo|alt=tābeō]]

+ * [[tabes|alt=tābēs]]

+ * [[tabum|alt=tābum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}