conspuo

Forms

cōnspuō (present infinitive cōnspuere, perfect active cōnspuī, supine cōnspūtum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + spuō (“to spit”).^[2][1][3] The simple verb goes back to Proto-Italic *spū̆-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sp(i)uH-ie/o- (“to spit”), an onomatopoeic formation whose beginning, de Vaan notes, was probably reshaped in several languages.^[4]

The simple verb is cognate with Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō, “to spit”), Lithuanian spiáuti and Old English spīwan.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short and Georges cite Plautus' Curculio for spitting on someone in contempt.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is to spit on someone or spatter them with saliva.^[2][5] Lewis and Short find it most often in Petronius, who has a slobbering kiss and spitting on someone in contempt.^[5][6] Juvenal uses conspuere sinus, spitting into the fold of one's own garment, which Lewis and Short explain as a charm against the gods' displeasure at proud words,^[5] and Apuleius uses it of an epileptic spluttering over someone's face.^[5][6]

A line of Furius Bibaculus, Iuppiter hibernas cana nive conspuit Alpes, “Jupiter spits white snow over the wintry Alps”, was quoted by Quintilian as a harsh figure, and Horace parodied it.^[5][6] The Vulgate has it several times in Mark and Luke,^[7] and Isaiah has a conspuentibus in me, “from those who spat on me”.^[5][6] Hilary of Poitiers writes caesum et consputum et crucifixum, “beaten, spat upon and crucified”.^[7] Tertullian uses it figuratively for rejecting with contempt, and Cassiodorus of a volcano spewing out.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of spitting on someone in contempt.^[5][6][9]
• 1st century BC – Furius Bibaculus has Jupiter spitting snow over the Alps.^[5][9]
• 65–8 BC – Horace parodies Bibaculus' line.^[5][9]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of a slobbering kiss.^[5][9]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the Gospels and in Isaiah.^[7][5][9]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of a volcano.^[8][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To spit on, bespatter with saliva.^[2][5]
2. To spit at in contempt.^[5][6]
3. (poetic) To sprinkle, cover (with snow).^[5][6]
4. (intransitive) To spit.^[6]
5. (Late Latin, figurative) To despise, reject.^[8]
6. (Late Latin) Of a volcano, to spew out.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b 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 h i j k l m n o Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de