Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Latin word amando

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin mandō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin manus
French main
Italian mano
Latin mando
Italian mandare
Latin amando
From the same root
English manumission ← manus
Latin manubiae ← manus
Latin manubrium ← manus
Latin manumitto ← manus
Latin commendo ← mando

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aːˈman.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈman.do][1]

Forms

āmandō (present infinitive āmandāre, perfect active āmandāvī, supine āmandātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled āmendō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ab- + mandō1 (“to entrust, commit”).[2][1] De Vaan explains mandō as a compound of manus (“hand”) with the root of “to put”, thus “to put at hand, commit”, matched by an Oscan stem.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short find it before Augustus only in Cicero, who uses it often, usually with a note of contempt.[5] In the Verrines he asks where a man was sent away to, āmandat hominem, quō?, and answers Lilybaeum.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

It means to send someone away, either for safety, as when Cicero sent the young Ciceros to Greece, or to get rid of them, as when he complains of Cato being sent away while he himself was expelled.[6][3] Tacitus uses it of a man relegated among the Frisii, āmendātum in Frīsiōs.[3][7] It was also said of things: Cicero writes that nature has removed such things far from the senses.[7] Ammianus Marcellinus has the reflexive, of people who hid themselves away.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of sending people away, often with contempt.[5][8]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of relegating a man among the Frisii.[3][8]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it reflexively, of hiding oneself away.[6][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To send away, remove; to relegate, banish.[2][5]
  2. Of things, to put far away (from).[7]
  3. (reflexive) To hide oneself away.[6]

Word family

  • āmandātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Amando.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/amando. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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