delenimentum Latin · revision 34370

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=second half of the 2nd century BC, Afranius|origins=la lēnis}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēlēnīmentum''' ''n'' (genitive dēlēnīmentī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Manuscripts often spell it ''dēlīnīmentum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|dēlēniō|-mentum|t1=to soothe down, bewitch]].^(OLD 2012)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) That verb is a compound of [[m|la|lēniō|t=to appease, mitigate]], from [[m|la|lēnis|t=soft, mild]], which de Vaan traces to [[ine-pro|*leh₁-n(o/i)-|t=lazy, slow]], comparing [[lt|lė́nas|t=lazy]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the comic poet Afranius,^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) in the sense of an enticement: ''si possent homines delenimentis capi'', “if men could be caught by blandishments”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Livy and Tacitus use it of blandishments and allurements, Tacitus of the ''delenimenta vitiorum'', the allurements of the vices.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) It also meant a soothing or consolation: Livy speaks of offering a distribution of land as a solace to men’s minds,^(OLD 2012) and Seneca calls what he prepares for his gout palliatives rather than remedies.^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913) Medieval writers used it of a means of appeasement or atonement, of flattery and of enticement,^(MLW) and in Britain of mollification and blandishment.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * second half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it of blandishments.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a consolation for the people.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca speaks of palliatives for his gout.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus speaks of the allurements of the vices.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An ingratiating act or quality, a [[m|en|blandishment]], [[m|en|enticement]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A soothing, [[m|en|mollification]], [[m|en|consolation]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A means of appeasement or [[m|en|atonement]].^(MLW)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is mostly used in the plural.^(TLL) Lewis & Short note that it occurs before the classical period and often from Augustus on, but not in Cicero or Caesar.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}