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astruo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word astruo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 50 BC, Caesar
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*streu-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin struo
Latin astruo
Latin structura
English structure

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈas.tru.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈas.tru.o][1]

Forms

astruō (present infinitive astruere, perfect active astrūxī, supine astrūctum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled adstruō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + struō (“to pile up, build”).[2][3] De Vaan traces struō to Proto-Italic *strow-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *streu-e/o- (“to strew”), comparing Old Irish sruïd (“throws”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the OLD's earliest quotation Caesar has soldiers building a further storey of bricks on top of a structure.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to build on to an existing building: Columella has a new building added to an old one.[3] It is also to heap on: Maecenas wishes himself a hump piled on.[2] Of praise and honour, Tacitus asks what more fortune could have added for a man with consular and triumphal honours.[2] It is to add or contribute: the elder Seneca sets out what the old orators found and those after them added.[2] Velleius speaks of adding Livy to the earlier age.[2] Lewis & Short call it mostly prose and post-Augustan, and never in Cicero.[3] Church Latin also glosses it to establish, support, teach.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of building an extra storey.[2][5]
  • c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius of counting Livy with the earlier age.[2][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of honours fortune could add.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To build on to, build in addition.[2][3][1]
  2. To heap on; to add honour or praise.[2]
  3. To add, contribute; to join to; to count among.[2][3]
  4. To provide with additional features.[2]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To establish, support, teach.[6]

Word family

  • astructio
  • astructor

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. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Astruo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/astruo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·