cogitatum

Forms

cōgitātum n (genitive cōgitātī); second declension^[1][2]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the neuter past participle from Latin cōgitō (“to think, consider”).^[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is in Terence's Phormio, of someone who could not bring out what he had thought out (nōn potuit cōgitāta prōloquī).^[1] Köbler dates it from Nepos.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly used in the plural.^[4][2] Cicero praises speakers who could express their thoughts brilliantly,^[1][4] and also uses it of a plan or design, as of carrying out a plot.^[1][3] Nepos uses it of a general's scheme and of revealing someone's plans,^[1][3] and Frontinus of keeping plans hidden.^[1] Quintilian uses it of what a speaker has thought out beforehand.^[1] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means a thought, reflection or idea.^[6]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of what one has thought out.^[1][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of thoughts and of plans.^[1][5]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it of a general's design.^[1][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of what is thought out beforehand.^[1][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. What one has thought out, a thought, reflection.^[1][4][6]
2. An intention, design, plan.^[1][3]

Usage notes

Lewis, Short and Georges treat it under cōgitō, whose past participle it is.^[2][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn