infit Latin · revision 33716

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *bʰh₂u-ie/o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈĩː.fɪt]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈiɱ.fit]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''īnfit''' (defective: only the third person singular present)^(OLD 2012)

+ Ennius has the second syllable long.^(OLD 2012)

+ Priscian cites ''infio'' from Varro,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Martianus Capella has ''infiunt''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|in-|fīō|t2=to become, happen]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of [[m|la|fīō]], which he traces to [[itc-pro|*fwije/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰh₂u-ie/o-|t=to become]];^(de Vaan 2008) cognate with [[osc|fiíet|t=they come about]] and [[sga|biid|t=is]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first,^(de Vaan 2008) in the ''Aulularia'': “then he begins to demand, wailing and howling”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ With an infinitive it means “begins”: Plautus has someone beginning to question the speaker and to praise a girl's beauty, and Lucretius has it too.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Alone it is “begins to speak”: Ennius has ''infit “o cives”'', Virgil ''his vocibus infit'', and Livy introduces a speech of Tullus with it.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Prudentius uses it simply for “speaks”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, “begins” with an infinitive.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius, “begins to speak”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, before a speech.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, before a speech.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius, “speaks”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(with infinitive)'' Begins.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Begins to [[m|en|speak]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' Speaks.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fīō]]

+ * [[incipiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}