phreneticus Latin · revision 36433

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=grc φρήν}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [pʰrɛˈneː.tɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [freˈnɛː.ti.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''phrenēticus''' (feminine phrenētica, neuter phrenēticum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|φρενιτικός|tr=phrenitikós|t=delirious]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) altered from ⟨phrenīticus⟩, a spelling also found.^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The Greek adjective is formed from [[m|grc|φρενῖτις|tr=phrenîtis|t=delirium]], from [[m|grc|φρήν|tr=phrḗn|t=mind; diaphragm]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Ancient explanations differ: Isidore derived it from [[m|la|frendō|t=to gnash the teeth]], because madmen grind their teeth, while a passage that Dionysius Exiguus translated from Gregory of Nyssa explains that physicians named the illness after the membranes of the brain.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Varro,^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Menippean Satires'' apply it to winds that rage as if mad.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In verse it occurs only in Varro, Martial and Prosper; in prose it is found from Cicero on, five times in Celsus, and most often in Augustine and the physician Caelius Aurelianus.^(TLL) Cicero uses it in the ''De divinatione'' of the delirious, and Celsus writes that some of the delirious are cheerful and others sad.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) It was often used as a noun for a madman.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Gregory the Great notes that medicine calls a man out of his mind by this Greek word.^(TLL) It lives on in Italian [[m|it|farnetico]],^(TLL) and through Old French ⟨frenetike⟩ it gave English [[m|en|frenetic]], of which [[m|en|frantic]] is an unexplained variant.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of raging winds.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the ''De divinatione''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of delirious patients.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it often.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * mid-14th century – English [[m|en|frantic]] is recorded, a variant of ''frenetic''.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – English [[m|en|frenetic]] is recorded, from Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Suffering from madness, [[m|en|delirious]], [[m|en|frantic]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(transferred)'' Raging, as if mad.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|madman]], a delirious patient.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|frenetic]]

+ * [[en|frantic]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}