semustus Latin · revision 34184

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la sēmi-, la ūrō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [seːˈmʊs.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [seˈmus.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sēmustus''' (feminine sēmusta, neuter sēmustum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Also ''sēmiustus'', the form under which the OLD enters it, scanned as three syllables.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ Georges notes that the best manuscripts of Virgil, Livy and Tacitus have ''sēmustus''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sēmi-|ūstus|t1=half|t2=burnt]], the second part being the past participle of [[m|la|ūrō|t=to burn]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) Wiktionary explains the contraction of /i/ and /u/ by comparison with [[m|la|sēmustulō]].^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces the verb to [[itc-pro|*ouse/o-|t=to burn]] and [[ine-pro|*h1eus-e/o-|t=to burn]], and compares [[sa|ओषति|tr=oṣati|t=burns, scorches]] and [[grc|εὕω|tr=heúō|t=to singe]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) whom Georges cites for a half-burnt Typhon.^(Georges 1913) Lewis and Short call the form ''semustus'' not earlier than Augustus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means half-burnt, scorched, [[m|en|singe|alt=singed]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Virgil has the body of Enceladus half-burnt by the [[m|en|thunderbolt]] and half-burnt timbers, Ovid a half-burnt torch, and Livy a half-burnt forum and statues.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Velleius Paterculus and Suetonius use it of half-burnt bodies, and Tacitus of the torn and half-burnt remains of houses and of half-burnt ashes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Livy also uses it figuratively, of a man who said that he had escaped the people's fire half-burnt, that is, only just.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a half-burnt Typhon.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of Enceladus and of timbers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it literally and figuratively.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius Paterculus uses it of a half-burnt body.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus has ''tectorum vestigia lacera et semusta''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|half|alt=Half]]-burnt, [[m|en|scorch|alt=scorched]], singed.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Having barely escaped (a fire, a danger).^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ūrō]]

+ * [[sēmustulō]]

+ * [[sēmi-]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}