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aufugio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word aufugio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (fugiō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fugio
French fuir
Latin fugito
Latin subterfugio
Latin transfugio
Latin transfuga
Latin effugio
Latin effugium
Latin refugio
Latin profugio
Latin confugio
Latin defugio
Latin perfugio
Latin perfugium
Latin diffugio
Latin aufugio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [au̯ˈfʊ.ɡi.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [au̯ˈfuː.d͡ʒi.o][1]

Forms

aufugiō (present infinitive aufugere, perfect active aufūgī); third (-iō variant) conjugation, no supine stem, impersonal in the passive[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ab- + fugiō (“to flee”), with the prefix in the form ⟨au-⟩.[2][1][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of fugiō, from Plautus on, and traces that verb to Proto-Italic *fug-i- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰug-i- (“to flee”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,[3][4][5] who has aufugero hercle, si magis usus venerit, “I'll run away, by Hercules, if the need arises”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is to run away, flee.[2][6] Plautus uses it also of things that disappear, as water that is said to have run off.[2][6] Transitively it means to flee from, shun: in Cicero's Aratea Andromeda flees the sight of her parent, and Propertius has it with blanditias.[2][6] Lewis and Short call it very rare but classical: Catullus, Tibullus, Lucretius, Virgil, Horace, Ovid and Sallust do not use it, Cicero has it twice in the speeches, and Tacitus once.[6] Cicero uses it of a pirate chief who might escape, and of someone who ran off after stealing many books.[6] Catulus, quoted by Gellius, has aufugit mihi animus, “my soul has fled from me”.[6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to flee.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of running away and of water vanishing.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it transitively of fleeing a sight.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of fleeing from a place.[6][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To run away, flee, escape.[2][6]
  2. Of things, to vanish, disappear.[2][1]
  3. (transitive) To flee from, shun.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Aufugio.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/aufugio. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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