raresco Latin · revision 33411

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=la rārus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''rārēscō''', ''rārēscere'' (third conjugation, intransitive; no perfect recorded)^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)

+ The OLD prints ''rārescō''.^(OLD 2012)

+ Some later manuscripts spell it ''rari-''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|rārus|-ēscō|t1=loose, sparse, rare]], an inchoative verb.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) De Vaan counts it among the derivatives of [[m|la|rārus]], the opposite of [[m|la|dēnsus|t=dense]], whose origin is unclear: a link with [[ine-pro|*h₂erH-|t=to disappear, perish]] is not obvious in meaning, and Schrijver rejects every proposal.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and the OLD record it first in Lucretius,^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) who uses it of matter loosening and of clouds thinning out: ''cum rarescunt quoque nubila caeli'', “when the clouds of the sky also thin out”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first meaning is physical: something dense or solid loosens and opens out, as earth under heat in Lucretius,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) or the narrow barriers of Pelorus in Virgil, which will one day open wider.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Propertius uses it of a sound that grows fainter on a quiet shore.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It then meant “become sparse”: wool and hair thin out on old animals in Pliny the Elder,^(OLD 2012) and a vineyard grows thin when its trees die in Columella.^(OLD 2012) Statius says the crowded walls of Rome were emptying,^(Conte 2010)^(Gaffiot 2016) and Tacitus that hills gradually fall away.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) In later Latin it became more general, “grow rarer, decline”: Tertullian sets ''iustitia rarescit'' against ''iniquitas increbrescit'', and Ammianus Marcellinus speaks of poisoners who were becoming rarer.^(Georges 1913) Glossaries explain it as “they become rare or few”.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of clouds and earth thinning out.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, of a strait opening out.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius, of a sound growing fainter.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of wool and hair growing sparse.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian, of justice growing rare.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus, of poisoners becoming fewer.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To become less [[m|en|dense]] or solid, to loosen, [[m|en|thin out]]; to open out, widen.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of sound, to grow fainter.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # To become [[m|en|sparse]] or fewer; of places, to become less crowded; of hills, to fall away.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' To grow rarer, [[m|en|decline]].^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rārus]]

+ * [[rārō]]

+ * [[dēnsus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Lewis & Short note that it is poetic and post-Augustan prose.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}