coeo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈko.e.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔː.e.o]^[1]

Forms

coeō (present infinitive coīre, perfect active coiī or coīvī, supine coitum); irregular conjugation^[1] Perfect coiī, rarely coīvī, and Quintilian mentions conīre for coīre.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from con- “together” and eō “to go”.^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨eō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cato, of a wound closing, and Plautus.^[2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to come together, meet, as in Terence; to have sexual intercourse, as in Plautus; of things to be placed together, to extend so as to meet, as in Ovid; of wounds and broken bones to close up, knit, as in Cato; to crowd together, contract, as in Propertius; to unite into a whole, coalesce, as in Lucretius; to form by condensing, as in Vitruvius; to band together in an alliance, as in Nepos; and transitively to form an alliance or pact, as in Cicero.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to meet, come together, have sexual intercourse.^[6] Its nouns coitus and coetus “meeting” come from it.^[1]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of wounds closing.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of intercourse.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of forming an alliance.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To come together, meet.^[2]
2. To have sexual intercourse.^[2]
3. (of wounds) To close up, knit.^[2]
4. To unite, coalesce; to contract.^[2]
5. To band together; to form (an alliance).^[2]

Word family

• coetus
• coitiō
• coitus

Related words

• comes
• eō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson