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circumpono

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word circumpono

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin (pōnō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sino
Latin situs
Latin pono
Latin positivus
English positive
Latin praepono
Latin postpono
Latin positura
Latin repono
Latin repositorium
Latin sepono
Latin circumpono

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɪr.kʊmˈpoː.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃir.kumˈpɔː.no][1]

Forms

circumpōnō (present infinitive circumpōnere, perfect active circumposuī or circumposīvī, supine circumpositum or circumpostum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin circum- (“around”) + pōnō (“to put, place”).[2][1][3] De Vaan explains pōnō as a compound, Proto-Italic *po-sine/o-, “to put down”, with the verb sinō (“to let”); its old perfect was ⟨-posīvī⟩, and ⟨posuī⟩ was formed later.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first example is from Cato's book on farming, stramenta circumponito, “put straw around”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means to place all round something,[2] of things in Cato, Lucretius, Celsus, who has splints placed round bones, and Pliny the Elder,[3][5] and of armed men in Suetonius.[5][6] With a dative it means to place near or on either side of: Tacitus writes of a grove quod nāvālī stagnō circumposuit Augustus, “which Augustus planted round the naval basin”,[7][3] and of two men seated on either side of a curule chair.[2][6] It is also used of putting a round object on, as a diadem in Fronto's letters.[2][3] Horace uses it of setting pepper out in little dishes.[6][7] In the Vulgate a gold chain is put around a neck, collō torquem auream circumposuit.[3][6] The neuter plural participle circumposita means the surrounding country.[6][3]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of straw put round plants.[3][8]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the surrounding air.[3][8]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of pepper in little dishes.[6][7][8]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus has it with a dative.[2][7][8]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has collō torquem auream circumposuit.[3][6][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To place all round, set or put around.[2][5][1]
  2. (with a dative) To place near or on either side of.[2][6]
  3. To put (a round object such as a diadem) on.[2][6]
  4. To set out (food) on the table.[6][7]

Word family

  • circumpositio

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Circumpono.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/circumpono. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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