morigerus Latin · revision 33532

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius|origins=la mōs, la gerō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [moːˈrɪ.ɡɛ.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [moˈriː.d͡ʒe.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mōrigerus''' (feminine mōrigera, neuter mōrigerum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|mōs|gerō|-us|t1=custom, will|t2=to carry, conduct]], from the phrase ⟨mōrem gerere⟩ “to humour someone”;^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) the OLD gives the second part as [[m|la|-ger]].^(OLD 2012) De Vaan traces [[m|la|mōs]] to [[itc-pro|*mōs-]] and [[ine-pro|*m(e)h₁-ōs|t=manner]], perhaps from the root [[m|ine-pro|*meh₁-|t=to measure]], although other reconstructions are possible.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler and de Vaan record it first in Naevius.^(Köbler 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) In Plautus it describes obedience: ''meo me aequom est morigerum patri'', “it is right that I should humour my father”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means compliant, obliging or obedient, used absolutely or with a dative, and Georges notes that it often has a sexual sense, of a woman who yields.^(Georges 1913)^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short call it ante- and post-classical:^(Lewis & Short 1879) after Plautus, Terence and Afranius, Lucretius uses it of nature that is ''mōrigera ad frūgēs augendās'', “willing to increase the crops”,^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) and of compliant manners,^(OLD 2012) and it returns in Apuleius, of a mirror image that follows its owner's every nod.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Firmicus Maternus writes of wives never compliant to their husbands.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Georges 1913)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of obedience to a father.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence has ''tibi mōrigera fuit in rēbus omnibus''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius applies it to nature and to manners.^(Georges 1913)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius revives it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|compliant|alt=Compliant]], [[m|en|obliging]], [[m|en|indulgent]], obedient; often of a woman who yields to a man.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # Of actions or manners, compliant, accommodating.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mōrigeror]]

+ * [[mōs]]

+ * [[gerō]]

+ * [[mōrōsus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}