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conspiro

Etymology and origin of the Latin word conspiro

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Accius
Ultimate origin
Latin (spīrō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kõːˈspiː.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [konˈspiː.ro][1]

Forms

cōnspīrō (present infinitive cōnspīrāre, perfect active cōnspīrāvī, supine cōnspīrātum); first conjugation, no passive[1]

Etymology

It is from con- “together” and spīrō “to breathe, blow”, literally “to breathe together”.[2][1][3] A separate rare ⟨cōnspīrō⟩ “to coil up”, from spīra “coil”, is in the book on famous men ascribed to Aurelius Victor.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Accius, of agreeing together.[2] Köbler dates Accius 170–c. 90 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to blow or sound together, as Virgil's horns sounding together, which Lewis and Short treat as its literal sense.[4] It meant to agree together, act in harmony, as in Accius and Cicero's cōnspīrāte nōbīscum “be of one mind with us”, and of things to harmonize.[2][7] From Caesar it meant to combine for hostile or illegal action, conspire, and the perfect participle could be active.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to agree, unite, act in harmony, conspire.[8] English conspire came in the late 14th century through Old French, and cōnspīrātiō gave English conspiracy in the mid-14th century.[3]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of agreeing.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of being of one mind.[7][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of conspiring.[2][6]
  • late 14th century – English conspire is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To sound together.[4]
  2. To agree, act in harmony.[2]
  3. To conspire, plot.[2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Conspiro.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/conspiro. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·