contrecto Latin · revision 36842

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la trahō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kɔnˈtrɛk.toː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [konˈtrɛk.to]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''contrectō''' (present infinitive contrectāre, perfect active contrectāvī, supine contrectātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''contractō'', in Plautus, Lucretius, the two Senecas and Suetonius.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|con-|tractō|t2=to handle]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Conte 2010) That verb is formed from [[m|la|trahō|t=to drag]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found first in Plautus,^(TLL) where a speaker longs to address, embrace and caress someone (''contrectāre'').^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lucretius has the sun touching the bare body of water,^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Ovid has it of a breast.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Horace warns his book that it will be soiled by the hands of the crowd,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) and Suetonius has it of handling money and of searching people by feeling them.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913) The amorous sense of Plautus went on to mean sexual intercourse, as in Suetonius,^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) and the law used it of laying hands on another's property, theft or embezzlement, as in Julian and Gaius.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Figuratively it meant to handle a subject or to dwell on something in the mind: Cicero says that subjects too large to grasp whole are handled more easily when taken apart.^(OLD 2012) Medieval Latin added to examine, to undertake, and in church use to profane what is holy; in law it still meant to steal.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of caressing.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the sun touching water.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of handling a subject.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a book handled by the crowd.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of appropriating another's property.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To touch repeatedly, [[m|en|handle]], [[m|en|finger]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To [[m|en|caress]], fondle; to have sexual intercourse with.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(law)'' To handle unlawfully, [[m|en|embezzle]], steal.^(OLD 2012)^(MLW)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To deal with (a subject); to dwell on in the mind, [[m|en|contemplate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' To examine;^(MLW) ''(ecclesiastical)'' to profane.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contrectabilis]]

+ * [[contrectātiō]]

+ * [[contrectātor]]

+ * [[praecontrectō]]

+ * [[contractabilis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tractō]]

+ * [[trahō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}