Etymologically
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adhortor

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Forms

adhortor (present infinitive adhortārī, perfect active adhortātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + hortor (“to urge, encourage”).[2][1] De Vaan takes hortor as a frequentative of horior (“to urge”), made from a past participle or shortened from the older form found in Ennius, and traces horior to Proto-Italic *χerj- and Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer-i- (“to enjoy”), perhaps first “to be excited”.[3] Cognate with Oscan herest (“will want”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] who has “he urges and helps us with work and advice”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to encourage or urge someone on in an activity, and in the army to address words of encouragement to the troops, as Cicero says generals do with the line drawn up.[2] It is also to urge someone to a course of action, as Cicero's Lepidus urging peace, and of habits or circumstances, as Cicero's lifelong habit that urged him to defend Rabirius.[2] Church Latin glosses it “encourage, exhort”.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of urging on with work and advice.[2][3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of generals exhorting troops and of urging peace.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To encourage, urge on; to exhort troops.[2][6][4][1]
  2. To urge to a course of action; of circumstances, to prompt.[2][6][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press