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aversus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word aversus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*wert-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aːˈwɛr.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈvɛr.sus][1]

Forms

āversus (feminine āversa, neuter āversum, superlative āversissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1] It is also spelled āvorsus, the older form of the verb's stem.[2]

Etymology

It is the participle of āvertō (“to turn away”), used as an adjective.[2][3][1] The verb is from ā- (“away”) and vertō (“to turn”), whose older form ⟨vortō⟩ was the usual one until about the middle of the 2nd century BC;[2] ⟨vertō⟩ is from Proto-Italic *wertō and Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”), cognate with Sanskrit वर्तते (vártate, “turns”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽 (wairþan, “to become”).[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato has “if you are shameless both in front and behind”;[2] Köbler gives Cicero.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is having the back turned, facing the other way, of people, animals and parts of the body, and of things turned back to front or facing away from something, as Vitruvius' place turned away from the north.[2][3] It is at the rear, behind, of blows from behind and of the sun, as in Varro, and the back of something, as Cicero's Antony putting his head into the back of the litter; the neuter plural is the back parts or hinterland, as Livy's flight through the back of the city.[2][3][1] It is far off or out of the way, as Virgil's “the Sun does not yoke his horses so far from the Tyrian city”.[2]

It is unfavourable, hostile or averse, as Sallust's attempt to bend a hostile mind.[2][1]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato of shamelessness front and back.[2][4]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of a hostile mind.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the back of a litter.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a remote city.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having the back turned, facing away; reversed.[2][3][1]
  2. At the rear, behind;[2][1] (neuter plural) the back parts, the hinterland.[2][1]
  3. Distant, remote, out of the way.[2]
  4. Unfavourable, hostile, averse.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Aversus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/aversus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·