palpo Latin · revision 36979

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈpaɫ.poː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈpal.po]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''palpō''' (present infinitive palpāre, perfect active palpāvī, supine palpātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan finds a sequence ⟨palp-⟩ hard to explain from Proto-Indo-European;^(de Vaan 2008) Serbat posits a verb meaning “to move repeatedly” to account for [[m|la|palpebra|t=eyelid]] and [[m|la|palpitō|t=to throb]], which would make [[m|la|palpus|t=palm of the hand]] and this verb two old formations of one stem.^(de Vaan 2008) The TLL and Georges connect it with that noun.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) The OLD compares, with hesitation, [[grc|ψηλαφάω|tr=psēlapháō|t=to feel about]] and [[m|grc|ψάλλω|tr=psállō|t=to pluck]], [[goh|fuolen|t=to feel]] and [[ang|fēlan|t=to feel]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses the deponent [[palpor]] for coaxing: “how sweetly he will coax the woman” (''quam blande mulieri palpabitur'').^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From coaxing it came to mean flattering and wheedling, absolutely or with a dative or accusative, in Lucilius, Horace, Pollio and Juvenal.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) The literal sense, stroking an animal gently with the flat of the hand, is in Ovid and Manilius, who has wolves stroked (''palpare lupos'');^(Georges 1913)^(OLD 2012) Seneca uses it of soothing, and Apuleius of calming the anger of Venus (''Veneris iram palpare'').^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In the Vulgate it means groping one's way like a blind man: ''palpes in meridie, sicut palpare solet caecus in tenebris'', “you will grope at noon as the blind grope in the dark”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Church writers use it of handling and touching.^(Stelten 1995) It survives in Italian ''palpare'',^(TLL) and English [[m|en|palpate]] and [[m|en|palp]] come from its family.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the deponent for coaxing.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of flattering.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of stroking.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 34–62 AD – Persius has the noun ''palpo'' “flatterer”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of groping one's way.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|stroke]], [[m|en|pat]], caress.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To soothe, soften.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To [[m|en|coax]], [[m|en|wheedle]], flatter.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' To feel one's way, [[m|en|grope]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' To handle, touch.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[compalpō]]

+ * [[expalpō]]

+ * [[palpābilis]]

+ * [[palpāmen]]

+ * [[palpāmentum]]

+ * [[palpātiō]]

+ * [[palpātor]]

+ * [[palpebra]]

+ * [[palpitō]]

+ * [[palpus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|palpable]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The deponent [[palpor]] is used in the same senses by Plautus, Lucilius, Pollio and Horace.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The noun ''palpō'', ''-ōnis'' “flatterer” is cited from Persius and the grammarians,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) though the TLL thinks it arose from a misreading of the ablative of [[palpus]];^(TLL) in Medieval Latin it was a real word for a flatterer.^(DMLBS)

+

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''palpare'', stroking something already smooth to give a pleasant feeling, hence caressing and coaxing, from [[mulceo|alt=mulcēre]], stroking something rough to smooth it, hence calming an angry person.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}