Etymologically
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ambio

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈam.bi.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈam.bi.o][1]

Forms

ambiō (present infinitive ambīre, perfect active ambiī or ambīvī, supine ambītum); fourth conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from ambi- (“around”) and eō “to go”, but is conjugated regularly in the fourth conjugation.[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of canvassing for something.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to go round, visit in rotation, and in politics to canvass, solicit votes, as in Cicero, to go round seeking support, as in Terence, and to canvass for an office, as in Plautus, or strive for something.[2] It meant to go round, skirt, as Ovid's charioteer going round the foundations of Sicily, to orbit, to throng round, to surround, encircle, to embrace, and of rivers and peoples to lie round.[2][6] It also meant to comprehend, include, and to cover, clothe.[2] Döderlein contrasts circumeō, going round a boundary, with ambīre, going hither and thither.[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to go around, canvass, strive for.[8] English ambition comes from its noun ambitiō “a going round to solicit votes” in the mid-14th century, and English ambient from its participle in the 1590s.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of canvassing.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of soliciting support.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of political canvassing.[2][5]
  • mid-14th century – English ambition is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go round, visit in turn.[2]
  2. To canvass, solicit (votes, support).[2]
  3. To strive for.[2]
  4. To go round; to orbit.[2]
  5. To surround, encircle; to embrace.[2]
  6. To include; to cover.[2]

Word family

  • ambitiō
  • ambitor
  • ambitus
  • exambio

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 m n 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson