fluctuo Latin · revision 33109

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfɫuːk.tu.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfluk.tu.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''flūctuō''' (present infinitive flūctuāre, perfect active flūctuāvī, supine flūctuātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ The deponent ''fluctuor'' is also used.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|flūctus|-ō|t1=wave]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) [[m|la|flūctus]] is made from [[m|la|fluō|t=to flow]],^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*flow-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰleuH-(e/o-)|t=to flow (over)]], with cognates such as [[grc|φλύω|tr=phlúō|t=to seethe, boil over]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus uses it first: in the ''Rudens'' the sea surges strongly, and in the ''Mercator'' someone asks what if his mind is in turmoil.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of water it is to rise in waves, to surge: Plautus' sea.^(OLD 2012) By extension it is to move like waves, sway, ripple: Lucretius has the air raging in the winds.^(OLD 2012) It is also to be tossed by the waves: Cicero asks what is so common as the sea for those tossed on it and the shore for the castaways.^(OLD 2012) Most often it is figurative: of the mind, to be agitated, as in Plautus, and of passion, to seethe, as Virgil's anger seething within;^(OLD 2012) of a person or an opinion, to waver and hesitate, as the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' says of the people when Gracchus saw them waver;^(OLD 2012) of a battle-line, to falter, and of hopes, to hang in the balance, as Valerius Maximus says of the hope of victory.^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short note the deponent ''fluctuor'' is perhaps not earlier than Augustus,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Quintilian lists it among verbs used in both voices.^(TLL) Stelten gives "be tossed about, waver, hesitate, be doubtful" for Church Latin.^(Stelten 1995) The English [[m|en|fluctuate]] comes from its participle.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the surging sea and of an agitated mind.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the air moving in waves.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of those tossed at sea.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of anger seething.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 1630s – [[m|en|fluctuate]] appears in English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(of liquids)'' To rise in [[m|en|wave|alt=waves]], [[m|en|surge]], billow; to move like waves, sway, [[m|en|undulate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be tossed by the waves; to float.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(of the mind)'' To be agitated;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''(of passion)'' to seethe.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be in doubt, [[m|en|waver]], hesitate;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''(of a battle-line)'' to falter;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''(of hopes)'' to hang in the balance.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flūctuābundus]]

+ * [[flūctuātim]]

+ * [[flūctuātiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flūctus]]

+ * [[fluō]]

+ * [[en|fluctuate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}