advento

Forms

adventō (present infinitive adventāre, perfect active adventāvī, supine adventātum); first conjugation, no passive^[1]

Etymology

It is the frequentative of adveniō (“to arrive”), formed with -tō.^[2][3][4] ⟨veniō⟩ is from Proto-Italic *gʷn-je/o- (“to come”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʷm-ie/o- (“to come”), according to de Vaan.^[5] Cognate with Oscan kúmbened (“has come together”) and Sanskrit गच्छति (gácchati, “goes, comes”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “the tenth month is already drawing near” in the Truculentus, and Ennius “many others arrive, whose names poverty hides”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to come towards or approach, as Varro's “what is carried is in motion and approaches”, and of troops with hostile intent, as Cicero's report that Afranius was coming with great forces.^[2][3] It is to arrive or turn up, of people and of things such as supplies, as in Tacitus.^[2] Of the tide it is to come in, as in Mela, and of wind and rain to threaten, as Virgil's rising east winds.^[2] Of time and events it is to draw near, as in Plautus, and of sums to come close to a figure, as in Cicero's letters.^[2]

The TLL counts it three times in Plautus and once each in Terence, Varro and Caesar, with seventeen examples in Cicero's letters but none in his speeches.^[4] Church Latin glosses it “come”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of an approaching month.^[2][7]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius of people arriving.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of an advancing army.^[2][7]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of rising winds.^[2][7]
• 43/44 AD – Mela of the incoming tide.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To Approach, draw near; to advance (of troops).^[2][3][1][6]
2. To arrive, turn up.^[2][1]
3. (of the tide) To come in;^[2] (of wind, rain) to threaten.^[2]
4. (of time, events) To be at hand, draw near.^[2][3]
5. To come close to (a sum).^[2]

Related words

• adveniō
• adventus
• veniō
• appropinquō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de