discerpo Latin · revision 33624

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=ine-pro *kerp-e/o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [dɪsˈkɛr.poː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [diʃˈʃɛr.po]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''discerpō''' (present infinitive discerpere, perfect active discerpsī, supine discerptum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|dis-|carpō|t2=to pluck]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|carpō]] to [[itc-pro|*karp-]] and [[ine-pro|*kerp-e/o-|t=to pick, pluck]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[grc|καρπός|tr=karpós|t=fruit]], [[lt|kir̃pti|t=to chop, cut]] and [[ang|hærfest|t=autumn]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Ennius,^(de Vaan 2008) who writes that no one could tear the body apart with iron, ''nec pote quisquam corpus discerpere ferro''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means to tear or rend to pieces, to mangle: Cicero argues that the soul cannot be divided or torn apart, and Virgil has a young man torn to pieces in the rites of Bacchus and scattered over the fields.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Livy also uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively it is to tear a person to shreds with words, as in Catullus' “even if the stars tear me apart with hostile words”.^(OLD 2012) In the land surveyor Hyginus it means to cut or divide off, of pieces of land that run out from the straight lines.^(OLD 2012) Glossaries explain it as to mangle or tear apart, and also to devour.^(TLL) In Church Latin it is to rend, to tear.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius, of tearing a body apart.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus, of tearing with words.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the soul that cannot be torn apart.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, of a young man torn apart in Bacchic rites.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To tear or rend to pieces, to [[m|en|mangle]], [[m|en|mutilate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To pull a person to pieces with words.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To cut or divide off.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[discerptio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[carpō]]

+ * [[dēcerpō]]

+ * [[excerpō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}