Etymologically
Log in

ambi-

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 10:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

ambi- [1] Varro has the spelling ambe-.[2]

Etymology

It is the fuller form of amb-, inherited from Proto-Italic *ambi, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“to, around”); its cognates are listed there.[3][1] In compounds with nouns and adjectives it was often understood as if it came from ambō “both”,[4] and Wiktionary treats it there as the stem of that word with the linking vowel ⟨-i-⟩.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds the old prefix only in glosses and grammarians: Varro has ambiegnus, “with lambs on both sides”, and ambecīsus, a cut on both sides, and Festus ambiaxiō.[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Later compounds were formed on ambō beside older compounds in bi-: ambidēns beside bidēns, and ambifāriam beside bifāriam.[3] Apuleius uses ambifāriam of an argument that traps an opponent either way,[5][6] and ambidexter, “using both hands as the right”, appears in the Itala.[6] In Medieval Latin ambidexter could mean “double-dealing”.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro records ambiegnus.[5][6][3]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses ambifāriam.[5][6]
  • after 220 AD – ambidexter appears in the Itala.[6]

Meanings

Prefix

  1. around, about; a fuller form of amb-.[5][2][3]
  2. both, on both sides (taken as a combining form of ambō).[1][4]

Word family

  • ambiegnus
  • ambifāriam
  • ambidexter

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press