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abscondo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word abscondo

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (condō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin condo
Latin abscondo

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [apˈskɔn.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [abˈskɔn.do][1]

Forms

abscondō (present infinitive abscondere, perfect active abscondī, supine absconditum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin abs- (“away”) + condō (“to put away, hide”).[2][1] The perfect is abscondī or the older abscondidī, used by Plautus, and a participle absconsum also appears.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has a miser worried that someone may sense where the gold is hidden.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to hide from view, to hide from danger, as Seneca's slave hiding his outlawed master, and in the passive or reflexive to hide oneself.[2] It meant to bury or plunge into something, as Virgil's corpses buried in pits, to shroud in darkness, and to keep secret.[2]

It also meant to store or put away.[1] Romance kept it, as Spanish and Portuguese esconder.[1] English abscond, “to depart secretly”, was borrowed in the 1560s from French and Latin.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of hidden gold.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of burying corpses.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a slave hiding his master.[2][4]
  • 1560s – English abscond is borrowed.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hide, conceal.[2][1]
  2. To hide (from danger), (reflexive) to hide oneself.[2]
  3. To bury, immerse.[2]
  4. To shroud (in darkness).[2][1]
  5. To keep secret.[2]
  6. To store, put away.[1]

Word family

  • absconditē
  • absconditor
  • absconditus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Abscondo.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/abscondo. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·