ausculto

Forms

auscultō (present infinitive auscultāre, perfect active auscultāvī, supine auscultātum); first conjugation^[1] A Pompeian inscription has obscultat.^[2] Charisius records a deponent auscultor.^[3]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Italic *auskoltā, a compound whose first part is the old unrhotacized stem *aus- of auris (“ear”).^[1][4][3] De Vaan traces auris to Proto-Italic *aus(i)- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eus- (“ear”).^[4] The second part is often explained as a form meaning hearing, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”), the root of clueō (“to be called”);^[4][2][1] Klingenschmitt reconstructs *h₂eus-ḱlut-eh₂-ie/o-, with metathesis to ⟨-cult-⟩.^[4][2][1] Others take the second part from *ḱel- (“to incline”).^[1][5] Cognate with the words for ear Old Irish áu, Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs) and Lithuanian ausìs.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] whose Casina has someone told where to listen.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to listen or listen to, and to give heed or obey: a character in Caecilius says he usually hears strangers when they give orders, but does not obey them.^[2] It also means to listen secretly, overhear, as in Plautus' “I heard all that from the door”.^[2] Döderlein distinguishes it from audiō, mere hearing: it is to wish to hear, to hearken attentively.^[6] Lewis & Short note that it is very frequent before the classical period, but rare in it.^[7] Church Latin glosses it to listen.^[8] English auscultate (1832) is from its participle, and English scout may go back to it through Old French escouter.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of listening and overhearing.^[2][9]
• 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius of obeying orders.^[2][9]
• 1832 – English auscultate is formed from its participle.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To listen, listen to.^[2][7][1]
2. To give heed, obey; to believe what one has heard.^[2][1]
3. To listen secretly, overhear.^[2][7]

Word family

• auscultātiō
• auscultātor
• auscultatus
• subauscultō
• auscultābulum

Related words

• audiō
• auris
• English auscultate
• English scout

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 c d e f 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de