Etymologically
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auspicium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [au̯sˈpɪ.ki.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [au̯sˈpiː.t͡ʃi.um][1]

Forms

auspicium n (genitive auspiciī or auspicī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin auspex (“bird-watcher, augur”) + -ium.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives auspex from ⟨*awi-speks⟩, a compound of avis (“bird”) and the root of speciō (“to look”);[4][1] he traces avis to Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwis (“bird”).[4] The ancient grammarians knew this: Paulus' epitome of Festus has ⟨auspicium ab ave spicienda⟩, and Servius ⟨quasi avispicium⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Naevius.[4][5] The elogium of a Scipio says that he returned to Rome auspicī repetendī caussā, “to take the auspices again”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Auspicium is augury from the behaviour of birds, the taking of the auspices, and an omen from birds (Varro: birds that give an omen by their song).[2][6] Since only magistrates had the right to take them, it came to mean that right, then the authority and command of a king or general: auspiciō or auspiciīs alicuius, “under someone's command”.[2][7] It is also any omen (Plautus: auspiciō malō, “under a bad omen”, Catullus: ab auspiciō bonō), and a beginning or first step (Ovid).[2]

Döderlein contrasts auspicia, the signs that magistrates had the right to take, with auguria, read by the college of augurs.[7] In Church Latin it also stands for pagan divination and worship;[8] medieval Latin uses it for “hope” and “success”.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[4][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: auspiciō malō.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro on birds that give an auspicium.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero complains that generals begin wars having laid the auspicia aside.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. augury from birds, the auspices.[2][6][1]
  2. An omen from birds.[2]
  3. The right of taking the auspices.[2][7]
  4. Command, authority, leadership.[2][1]
  5. An omen, sign.[2][1][8]
  6. A beginning.[2]
  7. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Pagan divination, idolatry.[8]
  8. (Medieval Latin) Hope; success.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill