emungo Latin · revision 34622

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=itc-pro *mung-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [eːˈmʊŋ.ɡoː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [eˈmuŋ.ɡo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ēmungō''' (present infinitive ēmungere, perfect active ēmūnxī, supine ēmūnctum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ Plautus has the syncopated perfect ''ēmūnxtī'' for ''ēmūnxistī''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ex-|*mungō]], a compound of a simple verb that is not attested on its own.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) De Vaan traces the stem to [[itc-pro|*mung-|t=to wipe]] and [[ine-pro|*(s)mu-n-k-|t=to brush off]], comparing nasal presents in Sanskrit and Baltic and the meaning of [[grc|μύσσομαι|tr=mússomai|t=to blow one's nose]].^(de Vaan 2008) He lists it under [[m|la|mūcus|t=mucus]], but notes that it is not certain the two belong to the same root.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Cognate with [[sa|मुञ्चामि|tr=muñcā́mi|t=to release]], [[grc|μύξα|tr=múxa|t=slime, mucus]] and [[lt|mùkti|t=to walk away]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008) both for wiping the nose and, colloquially, for cheating someone: ''ēmungam hominem probē hodiē'', “I'll fleece the man properly today”, says a character in the ''Bacchides''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In comedy the two senses are played against each other: in the ''Mostellaria'' one character complains of having been fleeced, is asked whether his nose is running, and answers that his whole brain has been wiped out of his head.^(OLD 2012) Terence has ''ēmūnxī argentō senēs'', “I have cleaned the old men out of their money”, and Horace uses it of Pythias getting a talent by fleecing Simo.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ The literal sense, to wipe one's nose, is found in Varro, the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'', Martial and Juvenal, and in Suetonius' life of Horace, of a father wiping his nose on his arm.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Horace calls Lucilius ''ēmūnctae nāris'', “of a well-wiped nose”, that is, a shrewd judge, and Quintilian calls certain Attic writers ''ēmūnctī'', of refined taste.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Medieval German sources keep both the literal sense and the phrase for a shrewd person.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for wiping the nose and for swindling.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of cheating old men out of money.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace calls Lucilius a man “of a well-wiped nose”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses the participle for writers of refined taste.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To wipe the [[m|en|mucus]] from (the nose); ''(passive or reflexive)'' to [[m|en|blow]] or wipe one's nose.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative, perfect participle)'' Of refined, discerning taste.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To trick, [[m|en|swindle]], [[m|en|defraud]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ēmunctiō]]

+ * [[ēmūnctōrium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}