captivo

Forms

captīvō (present infinitive captīvāre, perfect active captīvāvī, supine captīvātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin captīvus (“captive”), made into a first-conjugation verb.^[2][3][4] The adjective itself belongs with capiō (“to take”).^[5][6] The TLL notes that it was coined by Christian writers to render Greek verbs meaning “take captive”, and that outside Christian authors it occurs only in the Itinerarium Alexandri.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It belongs to Church Latin:^[2][3] it appears in the Old Latin version of Genesis (34.29), meaning to take prisoners in war,^[7] and in the Vulgate's Epistle to the Romans (7.23).^[8]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is bodily: to take captive in war, by robbery and the like.^[4][8] It was used figuratively too,^[2] and late jurists used it as well.^[2][3] In Medieval Latin it meant to capture or hold prisoner, also in private feuds, to give oneself into servitude, in law to arrest someone, and to carry people off.^[9]

Timeline

• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the Epistle to the Romans (7.23).^[8][10]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it at the opening of the City of God.^[8][7][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take captive, to take prisoner.^{[2][3][8][11]}
2. (figurative) To hold captive, to captivate.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) To keep in captivity;^[9] (reflexive) to give oneself into servitude.^[9]
4. (Medieval Latin, law) To arrest, take into custody.^[9]
5. (Medieval Latin) To carry off, abduct.^[9]

Word family

• captīvātiō
• captīvātor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson