macer Latin · revision 5578

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *meh₂ḱ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈma.kɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmaː.t͡ʃer]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''macer''' (feminine macra, neuter macrum, comparative macrior, superlative macerrimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*makro-|t=long, lean]], [[inh|ine-pro|*mh₂ḱ-ró-|t=long]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[grc|μακρός|tr=makrós|t=long]], [[ang|mæger|t=lean]] and [[goh|magar|t=lean]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Lucilius speaks of lean pigeons.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant thin, lean or scraggy, of people and animals, as Varro's lean cows that conceive more easily.^(OLD 2012) Of soil it meant poor or thin, and ''Campī Macrī'' was a district of Cisalpine Gaul.^(OLD 2012) ''Macer'' was also a Roman cognomen, borne by the annalist Licinius Macer and the Augustan poet Aemilius Macer.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Medieval writers used it of lean persons and animals.^(DMLBS) It survives in [[it|magro]], [[es|magro]] and Old French ''megre'', the source of [[en|meager]] in the late 14th century.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Its derivative ''ēmaciāre'' “to make lean” gave [[en|emaciate]] in the 1620s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius speaks of lean pigeons.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – English ''meager'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – English ''emaciate'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|Thin]], [[m|en|lean]], scraggy.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (of soil) Poor, thin.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[macellus]]

+ * [[maceō]]

+ * [[macor]]

+ * [[macrēscō]]

+ * [[macriculus]]

+ * [[macritās]]

+ * [[macritūdō]]

+ * [[permacer]]

+ * [[commacerō]]

+ * [[ēmacerātus]]

+ * [[ēmacerō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ēmacēscō]]

+ * [[ēmaciō]]

+ * [[macēscō]]

+ * [[maciēs]]

+ * [[macilentus]]

+ * [[maciō]]

+ * [[permaceō]]

+ * [[en|meager]]

+ * [[en|emaciate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein says that [[exīlis]] and ''macer'' both blame leanness as want of sap, ''exīlis'' of any body, ''macer'' especially of animal bodies, as opposed to [[pinguis]].^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}