[78]. Pott; Butler; Sismondi; Life of Erasmus.
Section VII.—Crescens, &c.
The verb cresco (to increase or grow) has descended into all our modern languages. It has formed the French croître (to grow), our increase and decrease, and our crescent. Its participle was already adopted as a name in St. Paul’s time, at least it is thus that his companion, Κρήσκης, is rendered, who had departed to Dalmatia; and a later Crescens is said to have brought about the death of Justin Martyr, in the second century. The occasion, however, of the modern name was one of the many holy women of Sicily—Crescentia, a Christian nurse, who bred-up her charge, the infant Vitus, in her own faith, fled with him to Italy, and was there seized and martyred, under Diocletian. Crescenzia, and the masculine, Crescenzio, prevail in both Naples and Sicily; and the election of the Angevin-Sicilian Carobert, to the throne of Hungary, carried the former thither as Czenzi; whence Bavaria took it as Cresenz, Zenz, Zenzl.
Section VIII.—Military Names.
In the slender thread of connection with which we try to unite names given in the same spirit, we put together those that seem to have accorded with the tastes of the Roman army.
Thus eligo (to choose), which originally caused the title of Legion, was in the participle electus, and thus led to words most familiar to us in the state as political terms, to the theological term elect or chosen for salvation.
There is some doubt whether St. John’s third epistle be indeed to a lady called Electa, or to an elect lady, as it is in our version; but when a name from this source next appears, it is among the cultivated Gallo-Romans, when they had gradually worked their way to consideration among the rude Franks, who had nearly trodden out civilization in the conquered country. Eligius was the great goldsmith bishop who designed King Dagobert’s throne, made shrines for almost all the distinguished relics in France, and doubtless enjoyed the fame of having made many more than could have come from his hand. He is popularly called St. Eloy, and some derive from him the Provençal Aloys; but this is far more probably a southern form of Hlodweh, or Louis.
The Roman veterans were termed emeriti (having deserved) from mereor (to deserve). From these old soldiers must have come the name Emerentius, which is to be found as Emerenz in Germany, and Emérence in France.
St. Emerentiana was said to have been a catechumen, who was killed by soldiers who found her praying on the tomb of St. Agnes. Her name (probably her relics) passed to Denmark, and to Lithuania, where it is called Marenze, and Embrance is the old English feminine.