sterto Latin · revision 33044

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈstɛr.toː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈstɛr.to]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''stertō''' (present infinitive stertere, perfect active stertuī); third conjugation, no supine stem, impersonal in the passive^(Wiktionary)

+ Priscian gives the perfect ''stertuī'', which the compound ''dēstertuit'' in Persius supports.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is related to [[m|la|sternuō|t=to sneeze]]: de Vaan lists it with that verb, which goes back to [[ine-pro|*(p)st-(e)r-nu-|t=to sneeze]],^(de Vaan 2008) and the OLD calls it cognate, comparing [[sga|srennim|t=I snore]] beside [[m|sga|sreod|t=a sneeze]].^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary adds that it cannot be a regular frequentative of the verb for sneezing, and that it may instead be related to [[m|la|strepō]] and [[m|la|strīdō]].^(Wiktionary) Lewis & Short and Georges compared [[grc|δαρθάνω|tr=darthánō|t=to sleep]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who has ''noctem tōtam stertere'', “to snore all night”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means to snore,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and so to sleep soundly:^(Georges 1913) Terence has someone snore night and day, and Cicero writes that Marcellus snored so loudly that he heard him next door.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lucretius speaks of one who snores while awake, and Juvenal writes of snoring with a watchful nose.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder has the participle as a noun, ''stertēns'', a snorer.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is used figuratively of idleness in the Vulgate and in Prudentius, who speaks of the mind snoring in a sluggish breast.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of snoring all night.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a man who snores while awake.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of Marcellus' snoring.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it figuratively.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|snore]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # To sleep soundly;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) ''(figurative)'' to be idle, [[m|en|sluggish]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[destertō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sternuō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}