differtus Latin · revision 36532

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81/79–52/50 BC, Catullus|origins=la farciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [dɪfˈfɛr.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [difˈfɛr.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''differtus''' (feminine differta, neuter differtum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|dis-|farciō|t2=to cram, stuff]],^(OLD 2012)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) formed as if it were the perfect passive participle of a verb ⟨*differciō⟩, like [[m|la|cōnfertus]] beside [[m|la|cōnferciō]].^(Wiktionary) The TLL derives it in the same way from the participle of that verb,^(TLL) and Lewis and Short explain it as “stretched out by stuffing”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ De Vaan traces the verb to [[itc-pro|*fark-je-|t=to stuff]] and finds its further origin unclear: the only possible cognate is [[grc|φράσσω|tr=phrássō|t=to fence in]], which fits the meaning poorly, and the word may not be Indo-European.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Catullus,^(Köbler 2010) who calls a young man ''leporum differtus … ac facētiārum'', “stuffed full of charm and wit”.^(TLL)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lewis and Short call it rare but classical, and note that Cicero does not use it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It usually takes an ablative: Caesar describes a province crammed with prefects and tax collectors,^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Horace the Forum of Appius packed with boatmen and stingy innkeepers,^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Tacitus the body of Poppaea filled with spices.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Horace also uses ''differtum forum'' alone for a crowded forum.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Cremutius Cordus, quoted by the elder Seneca, says that Antony was not only sated with killing citizens but stuffed with it,^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) and the younger Seneca applies it to the fat bodies of fish.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it with the genitive.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar describes a province crammed with officials.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the crowded Forum of Appius.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a body stuffed with spices.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|stuffed|alt=Stuffed]] full, [[m|en|crammed]], [[m|en|crowded]] (with something, ablative or genitive).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # Crowded (without a complement): ''differtum forum'', a thronged forum.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|glutted|alt=Glutted]], sated to excess.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[farciō]]

+ * [[cōnfertus]]

+ * [[refertus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}