abdo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈab.doː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈab.do]^[1]

Forms

abdō (present infinitive abdere, perfect active abdidī, supine abditum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from ab- (“away”) and a verb *-dō “to put”, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place”), as in Sanskrit दधाति (dádhāti) and Ancient Greek τίθημι (títhēmi).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, as his slaves who hid from their master's sight.^[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to put away out of sight, hide, conceal, as Caesar's wagons sent into the thickest woods, to place in ambush, and reflexively to hide oneself, of the sun to set, and figuratively to bury oneself in an activity, as in Cicero.^[2][5] It meant to cover or wrap, to plunge a weapon into a body, as in Virgil, and to banish to a remote place.^[2] It also meant to keep knowledge secret, disguise, and suppress a feeling, as in Livy.^[2] Döderlein contrasts cēlō, to keep something secret, with occulō, to hide a material thing.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to hide, conceal.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of slaves hiding.^[2][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it reflexively of going into hiding.^[2][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of hiding wagons.^[5][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hide, conceal, put out of sight.^[2]
2. (reflexive) To hide oneself; to immerse oneself (in).^[2]
3. To cover; to plunge (a weapon).^[2]
4. To remove, banish.^[2]
5. To keep secret; to suppress (a feeling).^[2]

Word family

• abditīvus
• abditē
• abditus

Related words

• condō
• addō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson