conitor Latin · revision 33239

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [koːˈniː.tɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [koˈniː.tor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cōnītor''' (present infinitive cōnītī, perfect active cōnīsus sum or cōnīxus sum); third conjugation, deponent^(Wiktionary)

+ Also ''connītor'', the less correct spelling.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ Accius has the infinitive ''cōnītier''.^(OLD 2012)

+ The perfect participle is ''cōnīxus'' in Plautus, Cicero, Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid and Livy, and ''cōnīsus'' in Livy, Valerius Maximus, Seneca and Tacitus.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|con-|nītor#1|t2=to lean on, strive]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) For [[m|la|nītor#1]] de Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*kniχw-et-]], whose first sense may have been “to lean on” or “to exert pressure”, and connects it with [[m|la|cōnīveō|t=to close the eyes]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first, in the ''Miles gloriosus'': “if you had put your strength into it, your arm would have gone right through the elephant's hide”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is to make a great physical effort, to strain: Virgil has a spear hurled with the whole body's strain, and Livy three young men straining to uproot a tree and pack animals breaking through the snow as they struggled.^(OLD 2012) Virgil uses it of a she-goat giving birth to twins on bare rock.^(OLD 2012) It is also to struggle towards a place: Caesar has cavalry struggling up a ridge, and Tacitus a man climbing a tall tree.^(OLD 2012) Curtius has men unable to raise themselves from the ground for cold.^(Georges 1913) In mental effort it is to strive or endeavour: Cicero urges striving with the mind as hard as one can, and says reason, striving on by itself, becomes perfect virtue;^(OLD 2012) Curtius says one must strive to be worthy of such friends, and Tacitus has Nero trying to dig through the hills by Lake Avernus.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of straining one's strength.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of mental effort.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar, of cavalry struggling uphill.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, of a goat giving birth.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of Nero's digging.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make a great physical effort, [[m|en|strain]], [[m|en|struggle]]; of animals, to labour in giving birth.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To struggle towards a place, [[m|en|climb]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # To [[m|en|strive]], endeavour.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nītor#1]]

+ * [[adnītor]]

+ * [[ēnītor]]

+ * [[obnītor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}