tractim Latin · revision 36209

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=la trahō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈtrak.tĩː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈtrak.tim]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tractim''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|trahō|-tim|t1=to drag, draw]],^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) and Lewis and Short derive it from the participle [[m|la|tractus]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of [[m|la|trahō]], which he traces to [[itc-pro|*traχe/o-]]; its closest cognates are Celtic, such as [[sga|tráig|t=ebb, beach]], which go back to a sense “to pull away”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Ennius,^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Annales'' are quoted with it by Macrobius;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Plautus' ''Amphitruo'' has a slave ask ''quid si ego illum tractim tangam, ut dormiat?'', “what if I stroke him slowly, so that he sleeps?”^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It describes something done in a long-drawn-out way.^(OLD 2012) Lucretius uses it of death creeping little by little through the other limbs,^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913) and Virgil's ''Georgics'' of bees humming in a long, drawn-out murmur.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Lewis and Short note that it belongs to poetry and post-Augustan prose:^(Lewis & Short 1879) Seneca uses it in his letters for slowly,^(Gaffiot 2016) and Gellius of the letter ⟨i⟩ pronounced long.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Glossaries explain it as continuously, without a break,^(Du Cange 1883) and in medieval Latin ''tractim canere'' was to sing in a slow, lingering melody.^(Du Cange 1883) British writers used it for in a drawn-out manner, of walking or sounding slowly.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in the ''Annales''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of stroking someone slowly.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of death spreading little by little.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the drawn-out humming of bees.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a vowel pronounced long.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # By drawing along; little by little, by [[m|en|degree|alt=degrees]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # In a long-drawn-out manner, slowly, with a [[m|en|drawl]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Continuously;^(Du Cange 1883) (of singing) in a slow, lingering way.^(Du Cange 1883)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tractus]]

+ * [[tractō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}