concito

Forms

concitō (present infinitive concitāre, perfect active concitāvī, supine concitātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + citō (“to set in motion”), the frequentative of concieō (“to stir up”).^[2][3][4][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of cieō (“to set in motion”), which he traces to Proto-Indo-European *ḱeyh₂- (“to start to move”).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Accius,^[5] who uses it for stirring up trouble.^[2] Lucretius has a cold breeze that concitat artūs, “sets the limbs shaking”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Concitō is to set in rapid motion: to hurl a missile, spur on a horse, and in the passive or with sē to rush (Caesar: men sent at full speed to seize a hill).^[2][3] It is also to agitate or stir up (the sea by winds), to summon or assemble a crowd (Cicero), to rouse to effort (Cicero: virtue spurs the mind with the goad of glory), to incite and inflame the feelings, provoke to anger, and to bring about or cause (Cicero: how laughter is provoked).^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “arouse, excite”.^[6]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it.^[5][2][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius: a breeze that concitat artūs.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of virtue spurring the mind.^[2][7]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of troops sent at speed.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To set in rapid motion; to hurl; to spur on.^[2][3]
2. (passive or reflexive) To rush.^[2][1]
3. To agitate, stir up, disturb.^[2][1][6]
4. To summon, assemble.^[2][1]
5. To rouse, incite, provoke; to infuriate.^[2][1][6]
6. To bring about, cause.^[2]

Word family

• concitāmentum
• concitātiō
• concitātor
• concitātrix
• concitātus

Related words

• cieō
• citō
• concieō
• excitō
• incitō

Usage notes

An adverb concitō “rapidly”, from the participle concitus, is given a separate entry in the OLD.^[2]

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 p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de