Etymologically
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aperio

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [aˈpɛ.ri.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈpɛː.ri.o][1]

Forms

aperiō (present infinitive aperīre, perfect active aperuī, supine apertum); fourth conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ap-wer-je- (“to open”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“off”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer- (“to cover”), so “to uncover”.[2][1] The *w after the labial was lost, as in oportet.[2] Cognate with Sanskrit अपवृणोति (apavṛṇoti, “uncovers”) and Lithuanian atvérti (“to open”), and related to Oscan veru (“door”).[3][4][1] operiō “to cover” is the same verb with ob-.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to open a door or gate, including opening the gates of a town in surrender, to open a building or container, to open up ground, dig ditches and lay foundations, and to clear a road or path.[3] It also meant to cut or break open, and to open one's eyes or mouth.[3] Figuratively it meant to uncover or reveal, to explain, and to open the way for something.[7][5]

Döderlein says that aperīre is opening something covered from above, such as pits and springs, while patefaciō is opening something closed at the side.[8] Its derivatives include apertūra, the source of English aperture.[9] It survives in Italian aprire, French ouvrir and Spanish abrir.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has the old future aperībō.[5][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of opening the gates of a town to someone.[7][6]
  • early 15th century – English aperture is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To open (a door, gate, building, container).[3]
  2. To open up (ground); to dig (a ditch).[3]
  3. To clear (a road or path).[3]
  4. To cut open, pierce.[3]
  5. To open (the eyes, the mouth).[3]
  6. To uncover, reveal; to explain.[7][5]

Word family

  • adaperiō
  • apertibilis
  • apertiō
  • apertīvus
  • apertō
  • apertor
  • apertum
  • apertūra
  • aprīcus
  • exaperiō
  • inapertus
  • sēmiapertus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com