mutilo Latin · revision 35796

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=190–159 BC, Terence|origins=la mutilus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmʊ.tɪ.ɫoː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmuː.ti.lo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mutilō''' (present infinitive mutilāre, perfect active mutilāvī, supine mutilātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|mutilus|-ō|t1=maimed, docked]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan finds no etymology for the adjective; he compares only Irish [[m|ga|mut]] and Scottish Gaelic [[m|gd|mutach|t=short]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline)

+

+ The grammarian Donatus explained that animals without horns were called ⟨mutilī⟩, and rejected the view that the word came from [[m|la|multa|t=fine, penalty]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and the TLL first record it in Terence;^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) in the ''Hecyra'' it is used jokingly of fleecing someone, stripping him of his money.^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its main sense is to damage something by cutting off a part: Livy has men left with their noses and ears cut off, and also uses it of crippled ships, while Ovid has a snake whose tail has been cut off and a tree whose branches have been lopped.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Curtius uses it of bodies maimed by axes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ It was also used of reducing or shortening: Cicero speaks of an army reduced in numbers, and later jurists of a diminished estate and of curtailed rights.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) Pliny the Elder uses it of mangling words in speech.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) Döderlein notes that it was said of lesser mutilations, such as the loss of horns, a finger or the nose, while [[truncō]] was used of greater ones such as the loss of limbs.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ It continues in the Tuscan dialect of Lucca as ''motolare'',^(TLL) and English took [[m|en|mutilate]] from its past participle in the 16th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it jokingly of fleecing a person.^(TLL)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an army reduced in numbers.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of noses and ears cut off.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of mangling words.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1530s – English borrows [[m|en|mutilate]], first of books and writings.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|maim]], [[m|en|mutilate]] by cutting or breaking off a part.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To cut off, [[m|en|lop]] off.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To reduce, [[m|en|diminish]], shorten.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+ # To mangle (words) in speaking.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(humorous)'' To fleece, strip of money.^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[admutilō]]

+ * [[dēmūtilō]]

+ * [[immutilātus]]

+ * [[mutilātiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[truncō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}