Lucretian Etymologies

This chapter assesses the role of etymological thinking, both explicit and implicit, in De Rerum Natura. After establishing some fundamental distinctions in ancient etymology, it constructs an argument to demonstrate that strong ‘atomological’ readings of Lucretius’ etymological wordplay are not robustly supported by what we know of the Epicurean theory of language. It goes on to suggest that Lucretian etymological wordplay is primarily concerned with demonstrating diachronic relations between words (i.e. derivations). These derivations are the result of the long second stage of language development, on the Epicurean theory. The chapter demonstrates this thesis with the help of numerous examples, both explicit and implicit, taken from the text of DRN.