mulco Latin · revision 33531

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmʊɫ.koː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmul.ko]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mulcō''' (present infinitive mulcāre, perfect active mulcāvī, supine mulcātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ Plautus has an old future perfect ''mulcassitis'' for ''mulcāveritis''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ Manuscripts often write it ''mulctō'', confusing it with [[multō#2]].^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably related to [[m|la|mulceō|t=to stroke, caress]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan finds it hard to derive from that verb's stem ⟨*molk-eje-⟩ and suggests that it is [[der|itc-pro|*molkā-|t=a stroke]], a noun formed from the same root, which he gives as [[ine-pro|*m(o)lḱ-eie-|t=to touch repeatedly]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sa|मृशसे|tr=mr̥śáse]].^(de Vaan 2008) LIV links the root with [[ine-pro|*h₂melǵ-|t=to milk]], which de Vaan calls possible but unproven.^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis & Short compared [[grc|μάρπτω|tr=márptō|t=to seize]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found first in Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who uses it of beating a person: ''priu' quam ego hic te iubeo mulcari male'', “before I have you thrashed here”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its basic sense is to beat up or handle someone roughly:^(OLD 2012) Terence has ''ipsum dominum atque omnem familiam mulcāvit usque ad mortem'', of a beating given to a master and his whole household,^(Lewis & Short 1879) in Cicero people are driven back ''male mulcātī clāvīs ac fūstibus'', “badly beaten with clubs and cudgels”,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Tacitus writes of bodies bruised.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Livy uses it of ships damaged in a sea battle, in the sense “to worst”,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Curtius of old men mutilated in most of their limbs.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively, Cicero speaks of writers who were roughly handled.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Lewis & Short list ''verberō'', ''tundō'' and ''pulsō'' as synonyms.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of beating a person.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence has ''mulcāvit usque ad mortem''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it literally and figuratively.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy applies it to damaged ships.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Curtius uses it of mutilation.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|beat]] up, [[m|en|thrash]], handle roughly.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(transferred)'' To worst, get the better of (in battle).^(OLD 2012)

+ # Of things, to [[m|en|damage]], [[m|en|mutilate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[commulcō]]

+ * [[mulcator]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mulceō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The DMLBS records a separate ''mulco'' “miller” in the 15th-century ''Catholicon Anglicum''.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}