Etymologically
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actito

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈaːk.tɪ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈak.ti.to][1]

Forms

āctitō (present infinitive āctitāre, perfect active āctitāvī, supine āctitātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin agō (“to do, drive; to plead”) + -itō, a frequentative.[2][3][1] Gellius notes that its first syllable is long, because it comes from ⟨āctus⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in the Brutus, says of Marcus Pontidius that he pleaded many private cases.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short note that it is used only of action in court and on the stage:[3] in Cicero it is to plead cases often or make a practice of pleading, and to act in tragedies.[2][4] Martial complains that Titus makes him plead cases,[4] and Tacitus uses it more generally of doing the same things over and over.[2]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of pleading cases and of acting in tragedies.[2][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of pleading cases.[4][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of doing things repeatedly.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To do repeatedly; to perform (an act).[2]
  2. To plead (cases) often, make a practice of pleading.[2][3]
  3. To act (in plays), be an actor in.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de