mordax Latin · revision 33266

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₂mord-(e)ie-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmɔr.daːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmɔr.daks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mordāx''' (genitive mordācis); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ The comparative is found from Phaedrus on.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|mordeō|-āx|t1=to bite|t2=inclined to]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|mordeō]] to [[itc-pro|*mord-eje-]] and [[ine-pro|*h₂mord-(e)ie-|t=to crush, bite]], an iterative present.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sa|मृदित|tr=mṛditá-|t=crushed]], [[grc|ἀμέρδω|tr=amérdō|t=to deprive of]] and [[ang|smeortan|t=to hurt]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who has a biting dog, ''mordax canis''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is used of animals prone to bite: Labeo has a horse that bites, and Apuleius an ass.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan in prose.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of things it is cutting or sharp, as Horace's biting axe; stinging, as Ovid's nettle; and sharp to the taste, as vinegar in Persius.^(OLD 2012) Of people and words it is biting or caustic: Horace asks whether he seems spiteful and biting.^(OLD 2012) Horace also has gnawing cares, ''mordācēs sollicitūdinēs''.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin has it as stinging, piercing.^(Stelten 1995) English [[m|en|mordacious]] (1640s) came from its stem.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a biting dog.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace, of an axe, of a satirist and of cares.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid, of the nettle.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1640s – English [[m|en|mordacious]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Given to biting, snappish.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Cutting, sharp; stinging; [[m|en|pungent]] to the taste.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of persons and words, [[m|en|biting]], [[m|en|caustic]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) of cares, gnawing.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mordācitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mordeō]]

+ * [[morsus]]

+ * [[en|mordacious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}