Etymology and origin of the Latin word aspergo
aspergo1 to sprinkle
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 204–169 BC, Ennius
- Ultimate origin
- Latin (spargō)
Etymology tree of aspergo1
Pronunciation
Forms
aspergō (present infinitive aspergere, perfect active aspersī, supine aspersum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled adspergō and, in Varro, Columella and inscriptions, aspargō.[2][3]
Etymology
The verb is from Latin ad- + spargō (“to scatter, strew”).[2][4] De Vaan traces ⟨spargō⟩ to Proto-Italic *sparg- and Proto-Indo-European *sp(e)r-g- (“to strew”), cognate with Hittite išpār- (“to spread out, strew”) and Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō, “to strew, sow”); he doubts the usual link with words for crackling sounds.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan dates the compound from Plautus.[5] In Ennius' Annals water is sprinkled on the Latins to revive them.[2]
Semantic evolution
It is “to sprinkle or strew on”, and “to besprinkle, splash” something with a liquid: Varro says bees should be sprinkled with honey water.[2] Figuratively it is to cast a slur on someone, or with an ablative to stain or sully: Cicero speaks of someone untouched not only by suspicion but even by rumour.[2] It is also to add a little of something, as Cicero's wit sprinkled into a kind of speech, and to bestow a trifling share, as a testator leaving a man a seventy-second part.[2]
Church Latin glosses it “to sprinkle”.[6] English asperse (late 15th century) comes from its past participle; its sense “to slander” is from the 1610s.[7]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[5][8]
- 204–169 BC – Ennius of sprinkling water.[2][8]
- 116–27 BC – Varro of sprinkling bees.[2][8]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero of a slur and of sprinkled wit.[2][8]
- late 15th century – English asperse.[7]
Meanings
Verb
- To sprinkle or strew on; to besprinkle, splash.[2][3][1][6]
- To cast a slur on; to stain, sully, asperse.[2][1]
- To add a little of; to bestow a trifling share.[2][1]
Word family
- aspersiō
aspergo2 a sprinkling
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 234–149 BC, Cato
- Ultimate origin
- Latin (spargō)
Pronunciation
Forms
aspergō f (genitive asperginis); third declension[1] It is also spelled aspargō (Statius, Callistratus).[2][3]
Etymology
The noun is formed from the verb aspergō1 “to sprinkle”.[2][1][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato,[5][8] who says that, so treated, damp will not harm it nor mice burrow into it.[2]
Semantic evolution
It is the sprinkling or scattering of a liquid, and the spray or drops themselves: Ovid tells how the tree's fruit turned dark from the spattering of blood.[2] The jurists use it of damage by water, and Fronto of being bespattered with disgrace.[2]
Church Latin glosses it “a sprinkling”.[6]
Timeline
Meanings
Noun
Related words
- spargō
- English asperse
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry
“Aspergo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/aspergo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.
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