torpesco Latin · revision 34729

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=86–34 BC, Sallust|origins=ine-pro *trp-eh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [tɔrˈpeːs.koː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [torˈpɛs.ko]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''torpēscō''' (present infinitive torpēscere, perfect active torpuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|torpeō|-scō|t1=to be numb]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) an inchoative verb.^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan traces [[m|la|torpeō]] to [[itc-pro|*torp-ē-|t=to be stiff]] and [[ine-pro|*trp-eh₁-|t=to be stiff]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[lt|tir̃pti|t=to coagulate, grow stiff]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest example in the OLD is in Sallust, who writes that hands and spirit should not grow sluggish through idleness.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Sallust, Livy, Seneca and Tacitus use it of becoming slothful or inactive.^(OLD 2012) The physical sense, “to grow numb”, appears in Ovid, of cheeks numbed by grief, in Seneca, of limbs numbed by cold, and in Pliny the Elder, who says scorpions grow numb at the touch of aconite.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Pliny also uses it of people made drowsy by a drink, and Seneca and Lucan of things that become still: air in endless night, and the world that stood still when a chant was heard.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of hands and spirit growing idle.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of arms made idle.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of cheeks numbed by grief.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of scorpions numbed by aconite.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To grow [[m|en|numb]], become [[m|en|paralysed]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To become [[m|en|torpid]] or drowsy; of things, to become still or inert.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To become [[m|en|slothful]] or inactive.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[obtorpēscō]]

+ * [[retorpesco]]

+ * [[extorpesco]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[torpor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}