Etymologically
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conspicuus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kõːˈspɪ.ku.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [konˈspiː.ku.us][1]

Forms

cōnspicuus (feminine cōnspicua, neuter cōnspicuum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cōnspiciō (“to catch sight of, notice”) + -uus.[2][1][3] The verb is formed with con- on speciō (“to look at”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *spekje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-ie/o- (“to look”), cognate with Sanskrit पश्यति (páśyati, “sees”), Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to look about”) and Old High German spehōn (“to spy”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is Horace, who says he rightly dreaded raising his head to be seen far and wide.[2] Köbler's first source is Ovid.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a word of poetry and of post-Augustan prose, especially Tacitus, and Lewis and Short note that Quintilian does not use it.[6] Its first sense is “in view, visible”, and in cōnspicuō is “in full sight”;[2][6] Ovid contrasts the hidden and the visible pole.[2][6] More often it means “catching the eye, striking”, of appearance (Ovid's ewe striking with its golden fleece), and then “notable, famous, illustrious”.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “visible, conspicuous, striking, remarkable”.[7] English conspicuous (1540s) is borrowed from it.[8]

Timeline

  • 65–8 BC – Horace of a head raised to be seen.[2][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of the visible pole and a striking fleece.[2][6][5]
  • 1540s – English conspicuous.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Clearly seen, visible;[2][6][1] in cōnspicuō, in full view.[2][6][1]
  2. Attracting attention, striking, conspicuous; notable, illustrious.[2][1][7]

Word family

  • incōnspicuus
  • sēmiconspicuus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com