compello
compello1 drive together
Pronunciation
Forms
compellō (present infinitive compellere, perfect active compulī, supine compulsum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled conpellō.[2][3]
Etymology
The verb “drive together” is formed from Latin con- (“together”) + pellō (“to push, drive”).[2][1][4] De Vaan traces pellō to Proto-Italic *pelna- and Proto-Indo-European *pl-n(e)-h₂- (“to approach”), with a shift of meaning from “bring near” to “push, drive”.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Plautus, Bacchides: callidum senem callidīs dolīs compulī, “with cunning tricks I drove the cunning old man” to believe everything.[2]
Semantic evolution
Its literal sense is driving cattle together, rounding them up, as Caesar's herds driven in by the Mandubii, and gathering people into one place, as Cicero's first civiliser who brought scattered men together.[2] It is to drive into a confined space (Livy: they were driven back to the ships), and Ennius uses it of the sea driving a ship.[2] Figuratively it is to restrict someone to a narrow field, to reduce by force to a state, and above all to drive someone to a view or an action, to compel or constrain: Ovid's king was forced to endure wicked orders.[2]
Church Latin glosses it “restrain, compel, oblige, subdue, overcome”.[6] English compel came from it in the mid-14th century, through Old French and directly from Latin.[4]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of driving someone to an action.[2][7]
- 204–169 BC – Ennius of the sea driving a ship.[2][7]
- c. 50 BC – Caesar of herds rounded up.[2][7]
- mid-14th century – English compel.[4]
Meanings
Verb
- To drive together, round up (cattle); to gather (people).[2][1]
- To drive (into a confined space); (of winds, waves) to drive, push.[2]
- To reduce by force (to a state).[2][1]
- To compel, force, constrain (to a course of action).[2][1][6]
Word family
- compulsiō
- compulsor
compello2 address
Pronunciation
Forms
compellō (present infinitive compellāre, perfect active compellāvī, supine compellātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled conpellō.[2]
Etymology
The verb “address” is a first-conjugation formation from Latin con- (“together”) + pellō (“to push, drive”), like appellō (“to address”) beside appellere (“to drive to”).[2][3][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Plautus, Aulularia: compellārem ego illum, “I would speak to him”.[2]
Semantic evolution
It is to address or speak to someone, to call on or appeal to (Livy: Decius calling his father by name), and to accost someone with an indecent proposal (Valerius Maximus).[2] With a predicate it is to address someone as something, and to call someone names (Horace).[2] Lucilius already uses it of rebuking, as Laelius loudly reproached gluttons, and Cicero of accusing people.[2][3]
Church Latin glosses it “accost”.[6]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in the sense “speak to”.[2][7]
- c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius in the sense “rebuke”.[2][7]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero in the sense “accuse”.[2][7]
Meanings
Verb
- To address, speak to; to accost; to appeal to.[2][1][6]
- To call (by a name); to call names.[2]
- To rebuke, scold; to accuse.[2][1]
Word family
- compellātiō
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de