contemplor

Forms

contemplor (present infinitive contemplārī or contemplārier, perfect active contemplātus sum); first conjugation, deponent^[1] Early Latin also has the active contemplō.^[2][3] Plautus has the old infinitive contemplārier.^[4]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + templum (“sacred area marked out for taking auspices”), with a verbal suffix, as Varro already saw.^[2][5] Lewis & Short take it to belong first to the language of augury, for the augur observing a marked-out space of sky.^[4][6] Festus explained that it was named after the augurs' sacred space, a place that can be seen from every side or from which every side can be seen.^[5] De Vaan traces templum to Proto-Italic *t(e)mp-lo- and Proto-Indo-European *t(e)mp-lo-, probably from a root Proto-Indo-European *temp- (“to stretch”), so first “a stretching”, then “a measured space”.^[3] Cognate with Lithuanian tem̃pti (“to pull, stretch”) and Old Norse þǫmb (“bow”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates the active contemplāre from Naevius;^[3] the first example the OLD quotes is Ennius' “look at the wealthy town”, in the sense to look at hard.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means first to look at something hard, gaze at or examine it with the eyes, and then to observe or study, as in Plautus' “see whether this dress suits me”.^[2] From this it passes to the mind: to ponder or consider, a use Plautus already has, and to take into consideration or have regard for.^[2] Lewis & Short note that Cicero uses the mental sense several times.^[4]

Döderlein contrasts it with cōnsīderō: that verb is an act of the understanding trying to form a judgment, while contemplari is a feeling absorbed in its object.^[7] Church Latin glosses it to consider carefully, regard.^[8] English borrowed contemplate from its past participle in the 1590s.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius has the active form.^[3][9]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius of looking hard at a town.^[2][9]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of observing and of pondering.^[2][9]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of considering a matter in the mind.^[4][9]
• 1590s – Borrowed into English as contemplate.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To look at hard, gaze at, examine visually.^[2][4][1]
2. To be a living spectator of.^[2]
3. To observe, notice, study.^[2][1]
4. To ponder, consider, contemplate.^[2][4][8][1]
5. To take into consideration, have regard for.^[2]

Word family

• contemplābilis
• contemplābiliter
• contemplābundus
• contemplātim
• contemplātiō
• contemplātīvus
• contemplātor
• contemplātōrius
• contemplātrīx
• contemplātus

Related words

• templum
• extemplō
• English contemplate

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de