Etymologically
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abominor

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Forms

abōminor (present infinitive abōminārī, perfect active abōminātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from ab- “away from” and ōminor “to forebode”, from ōmen “omen”.[2][1][3] An active ⟨abōminō⟩ is also found.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Livy, of averting an omen and of loathing.[2] Köbler dates Livy 59 BC–17 AD.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to avert an omen or evil by prayer, as in Livy and Quintilian.[2][5] Lewis and Short cite one who, told that a ruined tomb faced the prow, deprecated the omen, and note that it is not in Cicero.[6] In Livy it also meant to loathe, abhor, detest, and in Seneca with an infinitive.[2] Döderlein explains that abōminārī is to shrink from something as ill-omened, while exsecrārī is to curse.[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to abhor, hate, detest, loathe.[8] It was borrowed into French abominer and Italian abominare.[1] Late Latin abōminābilis gave English abominable in the mid-14th century, and English abominate came in the 1640s.[3]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of averting an omen.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it with an infinitive.[2][4]
  • mid-14th century – English abominable is recorded.[3]
  • 1640s – English abominate is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To avert (an omen) by prayer.[2]
  2. To loathe, abhor, detest.[2]

Word family

  • abōminābilis
  • abōminātiō
  • abōminātor
  • abōmināmentum
  • abōminōsus
  • ōmen
  • ōminor
  • English abominable
  • English abominate

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from exsecror, to curse.[7]

References

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