nixor Latin · revision 36686

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=la nītor#1}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈniːk.sɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈnik.sor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nīxor''' (present infinitive nīxārī, perfect active nīxātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|nītor#1|t=to lean on, strive]], a frequentative formed with the suffix [[m|la|-tō]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Lucretius,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) of creatures that can no longer support themselves on their wings (''ubi nīxārī nequeunt insistereque ālīs'').^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is rare and poetic.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lucretius uses it of physical support, of the foundations on which life and safety rest,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) and of straining to push a rock up a hill ''adversō nīxantem trūdere monte saxum'';^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Virgil uses it of a wounded snake straining with its coils.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Stelten records it in Ecclesiastical Latin with the senses “lean upon, strive”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of resting on wings and of straining.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a snake straining with its coils.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|lean]] or rest (on), support oneself (with the ablative).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To [[m|en|depend]] or rest (on).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # To exert oneself, [[m|en|strive]], [[m|en|struggle]] (to, with the infinitive).^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nīxābundus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}