semesus Latin · revision 34274

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=220–130 BC, Pacuvius (quoted by Cicero)|origins=la sēmi-, la edō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sēmēsus''' (feminine sēmēsa, neuter sēmēsum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ In Virgil some editors print the four-syllable form ''sēmiēsus'', read with three syllables;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Ribbeck writes ''semessus''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sēmi-|ēsus|t1=half|t2=eaten]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) the second part being the past participle of [[m|la|edō#1|t=to eat]].^(OLD 2012) De Vaan traces that verb to [[itc-pro|*ed-|t=to eat]] and [[ine-pro|*h1éd-mi|t=to eat]], and explains the long vowel of the participle by Lachmann's law, from a sequence /dt/.^(de Vaan 2008) The prefix goes back to [[ine-pro|*sēm-i|t=in one]], a locative whose meaning shifted from “in one” to “one of the two” and then to “half”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Georges cites it from a tragedy of Pacuvius quoted by Cicero, of half-eaten remains (''reliquiae'');^(Georges 1913) Köbler's first source is Cicero.^(Köbler 2010) Lewis and Short, who do not list that fragment, call the word not earlier than Augustus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means half-eaten or partly eaten.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Virgil uses it of [[m|en|prey]] and of bones, Horace of fish and of scraps of bacon, Ovid of snakes and Juvenal of a hare.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Suetonius has ''semesa obsonia'', dishes already started, leftovers from the table;^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Petronius uses it of the bodies of children and Florus of food.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In British medieval Latin it keeps the sense half-eaten and is also used, by extension, of a body or of lips half eaten away by hunger or by [[m|en|leprosy]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 220–130 BC – A line of Pacuvius, quoted by Cicero, uses it of remains.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of prey and of bones.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace has half-eaten fish and scraps of bacon.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has ''semesa obsonia'' for leftovers.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|half|alt=Half]]-eaten, partly eaten.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Half eaten away, wasted.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[edō#1]]

+ * [[sēmi-]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}