obesus Latin · revision 34210

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=2nd/1st century BC, Laevius|origins=la edō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''obēsus''' (feminine obēsa, neuter obēsum, superlative obēsissimus); first and second declension^(OLD 2012)

+ It is also spelled ''obessus'', which the manuscripts often have.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|obedō|t=to eat away]], being the participle of that verb, a compound of [[m|la|ob-]] and [[m|la|edō#1|t=to eat]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) The OLD marks the verb as unattested, while Lewis and Short give it an entry of its own.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The TLL compares [[m|la|ambēsus|t=eaten round]].^(TLL) De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of the verb “to eat”, which he traces to [[itc-pro|*ed-]] and [[ine-pro|*h₁ed-|t=to eat]].^(de Vaan 2008) Etymonline explains it as “that has eaten itself fat”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan records it first in Laevius, quoted by Gellius:^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) the line ''corpore pectoreque undique obeso'' uses it, Gellius remarks, for lean and slender, in its strict rather than its usual sense;^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that it could also be read in a passive sense, “wasted”.^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In ordinary use it means fat, stout, plump: Catullus has an ''obesus Etruscus'', Horace a fat thrush, and Celsus contrasts the thin with the fat.^(OLD 2012) Columella and Pliny the Elder use it of animals and of the belly, Apuleius of a body filled out with fat, and Pliny also as a noun for fat people.^(OLD 2012) The ''Aetna'' uses it of soil enriched with bitumen.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it means dull, coarse: Horace speaks of a dull nose, and Calpurnius of songs fit for coarse ears.^(OLD 2012) The grammarian Terentianus Maurus uses it of the thick sound of consonantal ⟨u⟩.^(OLD 2012) In Ecclesiastical Latin it means fat, stout, obese.^(Stelten 1995) English formed [[m|en|obese]] in the 1650s, partly from this word and partly from [[m|en|obesity]], which it had taken in the 1610s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd/1st century BC – Laevius uses it in the sense lean, thin.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a fat Etruscan.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a fat thrush and of a dull nose.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius discusses Laevius' use of the word.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – English forms [[m|en|obese]] from it, partly as a back-formation from ''obesity''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|fat|alt=Fat]], [[m|en|stout]], [[m|en|plump]]; of soil, fattened, enriched.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # [[m|en|dull|alt=Dull]], insensitive, coarse.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Wasted, lean, thin.^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[obēsitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|obese]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein contrasts it with [[corpulentus]]: ''obēsus'' denotes fatness on its bad side, with the unwieldiness that goes with it, and is opposed to [[gracilis]].^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}