viresco Latin · revision 36722

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [wɪˈreːs.koː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [viˈrɛs.ko]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''virēscō''' (present infinitive virēscere, perfect active viruī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|vireō|-scō|t1=to be green, flourish]], an inchoative verb meaning “to begin to be green”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first recorded use is in Lucretius,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) who writes that branches grow green on the trees (''rāmī virēscunt arboribus'').^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it is used of plants and of things in general that turn green: Virgil speaks of grasses that grow green without being sown, Ovid of webs on the loom turning green, Pliny the Elder of fruit that turns green, and Seneca of doorways green with laurel.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ From the sense “to grow, flourish” it came to be said of a people's or a person's growth: Florus calls the youth of the Roman people the time when it was most flourishing (''quā maximē viruit'').^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) Claudian uses it of things that spring forth in abundance, and Ambrose still uses it of plants.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Italian kept it as a literary borrowing, ''virescere''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius writes of branches turning green.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of grass in the ''Georgics''.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the ''Metamorphoses''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of fruit that turns green.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 120 AD – Florus uses it of the Roman people at its most flourishing.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(of plants)'' To put out green growth, become [[m|en|verdant]]; to turn [[m|en|green]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To [[m|en|flourish]], grow strong, [[m|en|prosper]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To spring forth, come out in numbers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vireō]]

+ * [[viridis]]

+ * [[vīs]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A second verb ''vīrēscō'', from [[vīs]] “strength” with the suffix ''-ēscō'', means “to regain strength”;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Conte 2010) Aulus Gellius discusses the word.^(OLD 2012) Conte files under it the line ''virēscit vulnere virtūs'' (“courage grows stronger from a wound”) of the poet Furius Antias, quoted by Gellius,^(Conte 2010) and Gaffiot thinks it perhaps belongs here,^(Gaffiot 2016) whereas Lewis & Short put it under ''virēscō'' “flourish”.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Lucretius 1.674, once read with ''virēscat'', the correct reading is ''vigēscat''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}