Etymologically
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celo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkeː.ɫoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛː.lo][1]

Forms

cēlō (present infinitive cēlāre, perfect active cēlāvī, supine cēlātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kēl-e/o-, probably made from a noun with a long vowel, Proto-Indo-European *ḱēl- (“hiding place”).[2][1] The plain thematic verb *ḱel-e- survives in occulō “to hide”.[2][1] clam “secretly” and cella “storeroom” belong to the same root.[1][3]

Cognate with Sanskrit शर्मन् (śárman, “shelter”), Old Irish ceilid (“hides”) and Old High German helan (“to conceal”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2] who has someone hide “the man and the gold”.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to hide from view, as in Plautus, and to contain hidden within, as Horace's birds and fish that conceal a taste unlike the familiar one.[4] Most often it meant to keep a fact secret, and with a double accusative to keep someone in ignorance of something, as in Plautus' “when you hid these scandals from me”.[4][5]

It also meant to shield a person by hiding who they were, as in Cicero.[4] Its compound concelare gave English conceal in the early 14th century.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of hiding a man and gold, and of keeping someone in ignorance.[4][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it in the sense “to keep secret”.[4][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of keeping an opinion secret.[8][7]
  • early 14th century – English conceal comes from its compound concelare.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hide, conceal from view.[4][1]
  2. To contain hidden within.[4]
  3. To disguise.[4]
  4. To keep secret.[4][1]
  5. (with accusative of person) To keep (someone) in ignorance (of something).[4][5]
  6. To shield (a person) by concealing their identity.[4]

Word family

  • cēlātim
  • cēlātor
  • concēlō
  • incelatus

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes celare, keeping something secret, from occulere, hiding a material object.[9] A different word cēlō, cēlōnis, a stallion, comes from Ancient Greek κήλων (kḗlōn, “stallion”).[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper