attenuo Latin · revision 34167

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=la tenuis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [atˈtɛ.nu.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [atˈtɛː.nu.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''attenuō''' (present infinitive attenuāre, perfect active attenuāvī, supine attenuātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelt ''adtenuō''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ad-|tenuō|t2=to make thin]], from [[m|la|tenuis|t=thin]].^(TLL)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014)^(Etymonline) De Vaan traces the adjective to [[itc-pro|*tn̥(a)u-]] and [[ine-pro|*tnh₂-(e)u-|t=thin]], the source also of [[sa|तनु|tr=tanú-|t=thin, slender]] and [[grc|ταναός|tr=tanaós|t=thin, elongated]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan records it from Lucretius,^(de Vaan 2008) who says that the right hands of bronze statues are worn thin by the touch of people greeting them.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is to make thin: Catullus uses it of pruning that thins a tree's shade, and Pliny the Elder of a lion's tongue that thins the skin by licking.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Caesar writes of a legion greatly reduced by battles,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Cicero of a war made smaller by the expectation of a commander's arrival,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) and Ovid of sleepless nights wasting young men's bodies.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of a voice made thin, and Cicero of a style made too plain.^(OLD 2012) Horace says the god humbles the eminent man,^(OLD 2012) and Ovid that Achilles eased his cares with the lyre.^(OLD 2012) In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to weaken or diminish,^(Stelten 1995) and medieval technical and medical writers use it of thinning metals, liquids and the body.^(MLW) English [[m|en|attenuate]] (1520s) comes from its past participle.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of bronze hands worn thin.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a war diminished.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar writes of a legion reduced by battles.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of bodies wasted by sleepless nights.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1520s – English borrows ''attenuate'' from its past participle.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make [[m|en|thin]] or slender;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) (passive) to become thinner, shrink.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To reduce in number or amount, thin out.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # To make thin (in tone); to make plain (in style).^(OLD 2012)

+ # To [[m|en|weaken]], exhaust; to [[m|en|impoverish]], humble.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # To lower in estimation, diminish.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To lessen (in intensity), [[m|en|alleviate]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[attenuātiō]]

+ * [[attenuātē]]

+ * [[attenuātus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tenuō]]

+ * [[tenuis]]

+ * [[extenuō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}