coetus

Forms

coetus m (genitive coetūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from coeō (“to come together”) with the suffix -tus; it is a variant of coitus.^[2][1][3] The verb is con- with eō (“to go”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in the Twelve Tables.^[5] In Plautus' Amphitruo the Theban army beat the enemy prīmō coetū, “at the first encounter”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a meeting or encounter, and in Gellius the conjunction of planets.^[2] It is a union, as of a kiss, and above all a gathering or crowd, as Cicero's meetings in Plato's Academy, a political assembly (Livy), and secret or unlawful meetings, as the night that cannot hide Catiline's wicked gatherings.^[2] It is a band or company, as Ennius' unknown company of young men, and in Seneca of stars; with hominum it is society, as Cicero's delight in the company of friends at dinner.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “a meeting together, assembly, group; sexual union”.^[6] Wiktionary gives Church Latin “group, society”.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – the Twelve Tables.^[5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of an encounter in battle.^[2][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius of a band of young men.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of gatherings and society.^[2][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius of the conjunction of planets.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A meeting, encounter;^[2][1] (of planets) a conjunction.^[2][1]
2. A union, joining.^[2][1][6]
3. A gathering, assembly, crowd; a secret meeting.^[2][1][6]
4. A band, company, circle.^[2][6]
5. Society, company.^[2][1]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Sexual union.^[6]

Related words

• coeō
• coitus
• eō

Usage notes

Döderlein counts coetus and conventus as voluntary gatherings, as against concilium, cōntiō and comitia, which are summoned: coetus for any end, social or conspiratorial, conventus for a serious one such as a festival or a speech.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper