Etymologically
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auspicato

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [au̯s.pɪˈkaː.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [au̯s.piˈkaː.to][1]

Forms

auspicātō (comparative auspicātius)[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin auspicātus (“having taken the auspices”), the participle of auspicor (“to take the auspices”), in the neuter ablative used as an ablative absolute, literally “the auspices having been taken”.[4][5][3][1] The OLD derives it from the deponent, while Georges, Gaffiot and Conte take it from the active auspicō.[2][4][5][3] The verb comes from auspex (“augur”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler first records it in Plautus,[6] who has vidē ut ingrediāre auspicātō “see that you enter under good omens”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In its first sense, after taking the auspices, it belongs to Roman public religion:[2][4] Cicero writes of a colony founded after the auspices were taken, Livy of a dictator setting out after taking them and of a city founded with auspices and inauguration, and Tacitus of the seat of Jupiter Best and Greatest founded by the ancestors with auspices.[2][4] Livy also writes of an army drawn up without auspices or acceptable sacrifice.[4] From this it came to mean with good omens, auspiciously, at a lucky moment:[2][4] in Terence a character says he has come here under no good omen (haud auspicātō), and Cicero speaks of founding a city auspiciously.[2][5] Pliny the Elder uses the comparative of Beneventum, renamed more auspiciously, which was once called Maleventum.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of entering under good omens.[2][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it in haud auspicātō “under no good omen”.[2][5][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of founding a colony after taking the auspices.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the comparative of the renaming of Beneventum.[2][3][6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. After taking the auspices.[2][4]
  2. With good omens, auspiciously, at a lucky moment.[2][4][3]

Usage notes

Wiktionary gives it as not comparable, but the OLD and Conte record the comparative auspicātius.[1][2][3]

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 o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de