eneco Latin · revision 34143

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la nex}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈeː.nɛ.koː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛː.ne.ko]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ēnecō''' (present infinitive ēnecāre, perfect active ēnecuī, supine ēnectum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ Also ''ēnicō'', the regular spelling in Plautus and Terence and found in Varro; from Laberius on, the forms in ''enec-'' are usually restored.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+ The perfect is ''ēnecāvī'' in Plautus, ''ēnecuī'' in Seneca and Suetonius.^(OLD 2012)

+ The participle is usually ''ēnectus'', and Pliny the Elder has ''ēnecātus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ Plautus has the old future perfect ''ēnicāssō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ex-|necō|t1=out, completely|t2=to kill]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists it, beside the simple verb, among the derivatives of [[m|la|nex|t=death, violent death]], which goes back to [[itc-pro|*nek-]] and [[ine-pro|*neḱ-s|t=death]].^(de Vaan 2008) He suggests that the participle ⟨ēnectus⟩ could mean that the verb in ⟨-āre⟩ arose in compounds, above all this one, replacing an older verb, though the simple verb could also be made from the noun.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sa|नश्यति|tr=náśyati|t=to perish, disappear]] and [[grc|νεκρός|tr=nekrós|t=dead person]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who uses it of the infant who strangles both snakes, ''puer ambō anguīs ēnicat''.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is to kill, often slowly, by strangling, starving or overwork:^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Varro has a hawk killing birds, Horace an ox worn out by ploughing,^(OLD 2012) and Tacitus the vapour of a scalding bath.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Columella and Pliny the Elder use it of frost or shade killing crops and shoots.^(OLD 2012) In comedy it is hyperbolic, to be the death of someone: a character complains that his spleen is killing him, another that someone's silence kills him, and in Terence someone would wear a man out with questions.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Livy uses ''ēnectī'' of men half dead from hunger, cold and dirt.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of killing and of tormenting.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of wearing someone out with questions.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses ''ēnectī'' of starving, freezing men.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a death in a scalding bath.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|kill]], [[m|en|slay]], especially slowly (by strangling, starving, exhaustion).^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # (of plants) To kill, [[m|en|stifle]] (by frost or shade).^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # (hyperbolically) To exhaust, wear out; to torment, [[m|en|plague]] (of pain, hunger or a tiresome person).^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[necō]]

+ * [[nex]]

+ * [[interneciō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}