Etymologically

adnato

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 15:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈan.na.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈad.na.to][1]

Forms

adnatō (present infinitive adnatāre, perfect active adnatāvī, supine adnatātum); first conjugation, no passive[1] It is also spelled annatō, the head form in Lewis and Short and in Georges.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + natō (“to swim”).[2][5][1] De Vaan explains natō as built on an old participle of nō (“to swim”), from Proto-Italic *(s)nato- and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to swim, float”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is the Bellum Alexandrinum, where a few men swim to the nearest ships (paucī ad proxima nāvigia adnatārunt).[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It means to swim to or up to something, with ad, the dative or no complement:[2][7] Phaedrus writes of creatures swimming up eagerly once their fear is gone, Silius Italicus of a helmsman of a wrecked ship swimming to an empty shore, and Pliny the Elder of creatures swimming up to a person's hand.[2][4] It also means to swim beside or alongside: Pliny writes of sea snakes swimming alongside that frightened a fleet, and Seneca of swimming along the side of a ship.[2][8] In medieval Latin it is used of the body of a saint carried by the waves to Strasbourg.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it of swimming up to something.[2][10]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of swimming alongside a ship.[2][10]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of sea snakes swimming alongside a fleet.[2][10]
  • 25–101 AD – Silius Italicus uses it of a shipwrecked helmsman.[2][10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To swim to or up to.[2][7]
  2. To swim beside or alongside.[2][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de