serio Latin · revision 34069

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *seh₁-ro-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sēriō''' (not comparable)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sērius|-ō|t1=serious]], an adverbial ablative.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) De Vaan traces the adjective to [[itc-pro|*sēr-jo-]] and [[ine-pro|*seh₁-ro-|t=slow, heavy]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has a man say that he seriously fears his wife will throw him out of the house.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means not lightly or playfully, seriously, in earnest.^(OLD 2012) Introducing a statement it stresses the speaker's earnestness, honestly: in Plautus a character says that seriously, though he seems a fool, he wants some joy, and it is used alone as a reply, “really? — seriously”.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein notes that ''sēriō'', in earnest, is opposed to ''iocō'' and ''per iocum'', in jest.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, seriously.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|seriously|alt=Seriously]], in [[m|en|earnest]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Döderlein 1874)

+ # ''(emphatic)'' Honestly, really.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[serius|alt=sērius]]

+ * [[severus|alt=sevērus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''sevērus'', of a person who makes no jokes, from ''sērius'', of a thing that is no matter for joking;^(Döderlein 1874) ''sevērē'' and ''sēriō'' are the corresponding adverbs, and ''sevērior'', ''sevērissimus'' and ''sevēritās'' stand in for the missing forms of ''sērius''.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}