Etymologically
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aufero

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈau̯.fɛ.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaːu̯.fe.ro][1]

Forms

auferō (present infinitive auferre, perfect active abstulī, supine ablātum); third conjugation, suppletive[1] The perfect is abstulī (apstulī) and the participle ablātus, and Plautus has the passive infinitive auferrier.[2]

Etymology

It is from the prefix au- “away” and ferō “to carry”.[2][1] Whether ⟨au-⟩ is the same as ab- is much disputed; the TLL compares Sanskrit अवभरति (avabharati, “takes down”).[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of carrying away.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to carry or fetch away, as in Plautus, and in Ennius to remove.[2] In Plautus it meant to carry off something, to come away with a gain, and to steal; in the imperative aufer it meant “stop, drop it”.[2] In Accius it meant to remove from sight and to carry off by death, and Cato and Cicero used it of taking away rights and abstract things.[2] In Cicero it also meant to carry someone away, to mislead, and in Lucretius to subtract.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to take away, remove.[5] Its participle ablātus gave ablātīvus, the case of removal, whence English ablative in the late 14th century, and English ablate.[6][1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of carrying away and stealing.[2][4]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of carrying off by death.[2][4]
  • late 14th century – English ablative is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To carry away; to remove.[2]
  2. To carry off; to obtain, win.[2]
  3. To steal.[2]
  4. To take away (a right, a benefit).[2]
  5. To kill; to destroy.[2]
  6. In the imperative, to stop.[2]
  7. To mislead.[2]
  8. To subtract.[2]

Word family

  • ablātiō
  • ablātīvus
  • ablātor
  • ablātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com