Etymology and origin of the Latin word convecto
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 70–19 BC, Virgil
- Ultimate origin
- Latin vehō
From the same root
Forms
convectō (present infinitive convectāre); first conjugation, no passive, no perfect or supine stems[1]
Etymology
It is formed from Latin con- + vectō (“to carry, convey”),[2][3] a frequentative related to convehō (“to carry together”) and its participle ⟨convectus⟩.[1][4] vectō is a derivative of vehō (“to convey, carry”),[5] which goes back to Proto-Italic *weχ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ueǵh-e/o- (“to carry”).[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
It first appears in Virgil's Aeneid (7.749), where it is a pleasure always to gather fresh plunder.[4][6]
Semantic evolution
Elsewhere in the Aeneid (4.405) it is used of ants carrying their spoil.[7][6] Tacitus uses it of hoes, axes and other tools brought in from the neighbouring fields,[6] and the Theodosian Code of straw and wood.[6] Lewis and Short call it very rare.[6]
Medieval writers used it for collecting and bringing together, and also, in a bad sense, for amassing and heaping up.[8] It is still found in Neo-Latin poetry, in Sannazaro.[9]
Timeline
- 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of gathering plunder.[4][6]
- 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of tools brought together from the fields.[6]
Meanings
Verb
- To bring together, collect; to carry together in quantity.[2][6]
- (Medieval Latin) To amass, heap up.[8]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
Cite this entry
“Convecto.” Etymologically, 25 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/convecto. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.
Last edited on . ·