- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Compound
- First attested
- Plautus
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Indo-European (*gʰh₁b-)
Pronunciation
Forms
abhibeō (present infinitive abhibēre, perfect active abhibuī, supine abhibitum); second conjugation[1]
Etymology
The OLD derives it, with a query, from ab- and habeō “to have, hold”, and Wiktionary gives the same.[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨habeō⟩ to Proto-Italic *xab-ē- (“has taken, has”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁b- (“to take”).[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
It occurs only in Plautus' Trinummus, in a conjectural reading.[4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]
Semantic evolution
It meant to hold at a distance, keep away.[2][4]
Timeline
Meanings
Verb
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry
“Abhibeo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/abhibeo. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
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