flaccus Latin · revision 6143

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=Varro}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈfɫak.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈflak.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''flaccus''' (feminine flacca, neuter flaccum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It has no etymology.^(de Vaan 2008) It belongs to a group of adjectives with an expressive internal geminate, such as [[crassus]] and [[gibber]], so from *flako- or *flāko-.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan discards all explanations that assume a change of *ml- to ⟨fl⟩, and Pokorny's root *bʰelāg- is only proposed.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) The OED suggests it is imitative.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Varro, who uses it of drooping ears.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of ears it meant drooping, floppy, and of persons flap-eared, as Cicero's question whether the gods are flap-eared like people.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Pliny the Elder notes that the cognomen ''Flaccus'' came from such ears; it was common in the Valerian, Cornelian and Horatian families, the poet Horace being Quintus Horatius Flaccus.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Its derivatives were ''flaccēre'' “to lose strength” and [[flaccidus]] “drooping, weak”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ It survives in Italian ''fiacco'' “weak” and Spanish ''flaco'' “thin”.^(Wiktionary) [[en|flaccid]] comes from ''flaccidus'', recorded in the 1610s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of ears.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of flap-eared people.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1610s – English ''flaccid'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(of ears)'' [[m|en|Drooping]], floppy.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(of persons)'' Flap-eared.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flacceō]]

+ * [[flaccēscō]]

+ * [[flaccidus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|flaccid]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Flaccus'' is also a Roman cognomen, above all of the poet Horace.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}