praeacuo Latin · revision 34018

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=la acuō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praeacuō''' (present infinitive praeacuere, perfect active praeacuī, supine praeacūtum); third conjugation^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+ Ovid shortens the first syllable.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|prae-|acuō|t2=to sharpen]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cato uses it in ''De Agricultura'' for grafting: the scion is to be sharpened at its end.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The TLL finds the finite verb only as a technical term of grafting, in Cato and in Pliny the Elder, who follows him.^(TLL) The perfect participle ''praeacūtus'' is used almost as an adjective, "pointed at the end":^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Caesar has stakes and beams sharpened at the bottom, Sallust pointed stakes, Ovid a spear point and Pliny a double axe and pointed rocks.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Apuleius has the adverb ''praeacūtē'', "very sharply".^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of sharpening a scion for grafting.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of pointed stakes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust of pointed stakes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a spear point.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of grafting and of a double axe.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|sharpen]] to a point, make pointed at the front or end.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(participle praeacūtus)'' Pointed at the end, sharp.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[praeacūtus]]

+ * [[praeacūtē]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}