musso Latin · revision 33807

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=grc μύζω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmʊs.soː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmus.so]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mussō''' (present infinitive mussāre, perfect active mussāvī, supine mussātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The OLD and the TLL take it as [[bor|grc|μύζω|tr=múzō|t=to mutter, moan]], adapted into Latin, following Leumann.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Wiktionary instead derives it from an imitative root [[ine-pro|*mur-|t=to mutter]].^(Wiktionary) Varro, citing Ennius, explained it as what the dumb do, saying no more than “mu”.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first, in the ''Mercator'', of speaking now with loud shouts, now in a mutter.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is to speak low, mutter or whisper, often in discontent, as in Lucretius, and in Livy of people asking one another under their breath.^(OLD 2012) Virgil uses it of bees humming round the doors of the hive.^(OLD 2012) It also means to do no more than mutter, to keep quiet about something, and to hum and haw in doubt, as Virgil's fathers who weep and mutter while the youth cry for arms, and with an infinitive to hesitate, as those who know what fortune brings but hesitate to say it.^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short note that it is not in Cicero or Caesar.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Varro has a deponent form.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of muttering.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of muttering.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, of bees humming and of hesitating to speak.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of people murmuring.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To speak low, [[m|en|mutter]], [[m|en|whisper]], especially in discontent.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of bees, to [[m|en|hum]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # To do no more than mutter, keep silent; to keep quiet about.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To mutter in doubt, hum and haw; with an infinitive, to [[m|en|hesitate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mussātiō]]

+ * [[mussitō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mussitābundus]]

+ * [[mussitātiō]]

+ * [[mussitātor]]

+ * [[mūtus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}