marcidus Latin · revision 34510

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 84–c. 25 BC, Vitruvius|origins=la marceō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmar.kɪ.dʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmar.t͡ʃi.dus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''marcidus''' (feminine marcida, neuter marcidum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|marceō|-idus|t1=to wither, droop]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan traces the verb to [[itc-pro|*mark-ē-]] and, if it belongs with the forms he compares, to [[ine-pro|*mr̥k-eh₁-|t=to be soaked, be weak]].^(de Vaan 2008) He prefers a zero grade in the verb because the close synonyms [[m|la|murcidus|t=lazy]] and [[m|la|muricidus|t=faint-hearted]] seem to continue an o-grade.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Among the cognates he lists are [[lt|mir̃kti|t=to become weak, soaked]] and [[lt|mer̃kti|t=to soak]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Ovid,^(Köbler 2010) who has withered lilies hanging their heads (''marcida demittunt … caput'').^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Lewis & Short also cite Vitruvius, for rafters that become ''marcidi'' with age.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its literal sense is drooping, withered or rotten, of plants, of an animal's limp ears in Pliny the Elder and of foul pools in Claudian.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Of people it means enfeebled or exhausted: Valerius Maximus speaks of a ''marcida senectus'', a decrepit old age,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Tacitus of men ''marcidi'' from sleep or from nights of debauchery,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Apuleius of eyes languid with desire.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) In Seneca it is apathetic or languid, of a man weakened by pleasures and too much good fortune,^(OLD 2012) and Statius applies it to things that bring languor, such as wine.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Medieval writers in Britain use it of withered bodies, of animals spent with age and of fading flowers, and figuratively of meagre things.^(DMLBS) Conte gives it as the source of [[it|marcio]].^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of rafters decayed with age.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of withered lilies.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a man made languid by pleasure.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of men weakened by sleep or debauchery.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius speaks of eyes ''libidine marcidi''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|withered|alt=Withered]], drooping, limp; [[m|en|rotten]], decayed.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Enfeebled, [[m|en|exhausted]], weak; also of things that bring on weakness.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|apathetic|alt=Apathetic]], [[m|en|languid]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[marcidulus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[marcēns]]

+ * [[marceō]]

+ * [[marcēscō]]

+ * [[marcor]]

+ * [[marculentus]]

+ * [[it|marcio]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}