abnego Latin · revision 36866

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil|origins=ine-pro *ne}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈab.nɛ.ɡoː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈab.ne.ɡo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''abnegō''' (present infinitive abnegāre, perfect active abnegāvī, supine abnegātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ An inscription spells it with ⟨amn-⟩.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ab-|negō|t2=to deny, refuse]].^(OLD 2012)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists [[m|la|negō]] among the derivatives of the negative prefix [[m|la|ne-|t=not]], explaining it either from [[m|la|nec]] in its old sense “not” or from [[m|la|neque]];^(de Vaan 2008) that prefix goes back to [[itc-pro|*ne|t=not]] and [[ine-pro|*ne|t=not]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sa|न|tr=ná|t=not]], [[lt|nè]] and [[got|𐌽𐌹|tr=ni|t=not]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first author is Virgil, in whom it means to refuse: in the ''Georgics'' a shepherd declines to put healing hands to a wound, and in the ''Aeneid'' a king refuses a marriage and a dowry.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it is mainly poetic and post-Augustan.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Besides “refuse, decline” with an infinitive and “refuse to give”,^(OLD 2012) it became a legal word for denying that one had received a deposit or owed money: Seneca, Juvenal and Ulpian use it of a person who disowns a sum entrusted to him, and Quintilian of withholding part of a payment.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Lucan uses it poetically of the land, which does not refuse the sea a river born again.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Christian Latin it means to deny,^(Stelten 1995) and medieval writers use it reflexively for denying oneself; the MLW records it also for refusing, taking away, renouncing and giving up a right.^(MLW) English took [[m|en|abnegate]] in the 1650s from its past participle.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it with an infinitive (“refuse to”) and with an object (“refuse to give”).^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace says that Fidelity does not refuse to be a companion.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of denying a deposit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of withholding part of a sum.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it in law of denying what one has received.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – English borrows [[m|en|abnegate]], “deny to oneself”, from its participle.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # (with an infinitive) To [[m|en|refuse]], [[m|en|decline]] to.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To refuse to give, [[m|en|deny]]; to reject.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # To deny that one has received or possesses (a [[m|en|deposit]], money).^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # To [[m|en|withhold]] what is due.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' To deny;^(Stelten 1995)^(MLW) ''sē abnegāre'', to deny oneself.^(Stelten 1995)^(MLW)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' To give up, [[m|en|renounce]] (a right or claim).^(MLW)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[abnegātiō]]

+ * [[abnegātīvus]]

+ * [[abnegātor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}