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conspectus

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conspectus1 visible, conspicuous

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kõːˈspɛk.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [konˈspɛk.tus][1]

Forms

cōnspectus (feminine cōnspecta, neuter cōnspectum, comparative cōnspectior); first/second-declension adjective[2]

Etymology

The adjective is the past participle of cōnspiciō (“to catch sight of”).[2][3] That verb is formed from Latin con- + speciō (“to look at”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *spekje/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-ie/o- (“to look”), cognate with Sanskrit पश्यति (páśyati, “sees”) and, with metathesis, Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to look at”).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Virgil has Tyriō cōnspectus in ostrō, “conspicuous in Tyrian purple”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Cōnspectus is “visible, in full view” (Livy: in tumulum hostī cōnspectum, “onto a hill in view of the enemy”), and “conspicuous, striking”, of persons “eminent, distinguished”.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil: Tyriō cōnspectus in ostrō.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy: in tumulum hostī cōnspectum.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. visible, in view.[2]
  2. conspicuous, striking; eminent, distinguished.[2]

conspectus2 sight, view

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kõːˈspɛk.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [konˈspɛk.tus][1]

Forms

cōnspectus m (genitive cōnspectūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

The noun is formed from Latin cōnspiciō (“to catch sight of”) + -tus, an action noun of the verb.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence has tuom cōnspectum fugitat, “he avoids your sight”.[2] Köbler dates it from Cicero.[5]

Semantic evolution

Cōnspectus is the act of seeing, “sight, view”, and the range of sight, so that in cōnspectū is “in sight, in the presence of”.[2][3][1] It is also a person's appearance or look (Cicero: tuum iūcundissimum cōnspectum, “the sight of your most pleasant face”), mental perception, “contemplation” (Cicero: in hōc cōnspectū et cognitiōne nātūrae, “in this contemplation and knowledge of nature”), and for surveyors the area to be surveyed.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “sight, survey, view, look, presence”.[6] Köbler records it widely in medieval texts.[5]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence: tuom cōnspectum fugitat.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: in hōc cōnspectū et cognitiōne nātūrae.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of turning away from the sight of evils.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. sight, view, look;[2][3][1][6] in cōnspectū: in sight, in the presence of.[1][6]
  2. Appearance, aspect.[2]
  3. Mental perception, contemplation, survey.[2][1]
  4. (surveying) An area to be surveyed.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson