ab

Forms

ab (+ ablative)^[1] Also abs and, before most consonants, ā; early Latin also has af and aps.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ap (“away, off”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep-.^[4][1] De Vaan reconstructs both a form without and a form with final /s/ (Proto-Italic ⟨ap⟩ and ⟨aps⟩), which gave ⟨ab⟩ and ⟨abs⟩;^[4] Leumann, as de Vaan reports, explains ⟨ab⟩ by voicing before voiced stops, as in abdō.^[4] The older form with /p/ survives in composition, as in aperiō.^[1] Before most consonants the preposition became ā.^[4][2]

Cognate with Umbrian 𐌀𐌐𐌄𐌇𐌕𐌓𐌄 (apehtre, “from outside”), Ancient Greek ἀπό (apó, “away from”), Sanskrit अप (ápa, “away, off”) and English of and English off.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in the epitaphs of the Scipios and in Naevius,^[4] who writes abeātis ab ignāviā, “that you depart from idleness”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is motion away from a place, “from, away from, off”,^[2][3] which spread to separation and absence, distance in space and time (“at a distance of”, “since”), release and protection (“free from”, “against”), and difference.^[2] As a point of origin it marks the source, the sender of a letter and descent,^[2] and with passive verbs it names the agent, “by”, already in Naevius and Plautus.^[2] It can also give a position or side, ab laevā “on the left”, and the post of a slave or freedman: ā manū “secretary”, ā ratiōnibus “in charge of accounts”.^[2]

In Late Latin it combined with ante in abante, the source of Italian avanti and French avant.^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of leaving a habit behind and of an agent with a passive verb.^[2][7]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses aps tē “by you” with a passive verb.^[2][7]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: caput ā cervīce revulsum, “a head torn from the neck”.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for the sender of a letter (litterae ā Pompeiō).^[2][7]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has ā manū for a secretary.^[2]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with ablative) from, away from, off (of motion).^[2][3]
2. From (a state or activity given up); from (a stage of life: ā puerīs “from boyhood”).^[2]
3. Away from, apart from; at a distance of.^[2]
4. After, since (in time).^[2][3]
5. Free from;^[2] (with verbs of protecting) against.^[2]
6. From (a starting point or source); of (origin or descent); from (the sender of a letter).^[2]
7. (with passive verbs) by, at the hands of (the agent).^[2][3][8]
8. On (a side or direction): ab laevā “on the left”.^[2][3]
9. (of slaves and freedmen) in charge of: ā manū “secretary”, ā ratiōnibus “for accounts”.^[2]
10. In respect of, as regards.^[2]

Word family

• ab-
• abante

Related words

• abhinc
• aperiō
• ā
• English of
• English off

Usage notes

Ab is used before vowels and ⟨h⟩ and often before liquids, nasals, sibilants and consonantal ⟨i⟩; ā before most other consonants, and abs mainly before tē and ⟨c⟩, ⟨q⟩, ⟨t⟩.^[2][4] It is construed with the ablative; uses with the accusative are irregular.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson