Etymologically
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cooperio

Etymology and origin of the Latin word cooperio

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (operiō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ko.ɔˈpɛ.ri.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ko.oˈpɛː.ri.o][1]

Forms

cooperiō (present infinitive cooperīre, perfect active cooperuī, supine coopertum); fourth conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from con- and operiō “to cover”.[2][1][3] A contracted form ⟨coperiō⟩ occurs in Cato, Lucretius and others.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of covering completely.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to cover completely, cover up, and lapidibus cooperīre meant to stone, as in Cicero.[2][6] Livy's soldier is coopertus tēlīs “overwhelmed by missiles”.[6] In the perfect participle with an ablative it meant overwhelmed, buried, steeped in crime or misfortune, as in Cicero.[2] Lewis and Short note it is most frequent in the perfect participle.[4]

It survives in French couvrir, Italian coprire, Spanish cubrir and Romanian acoperi.[1] Through Late Latin coperīre and Old French covrir it is the source of English cover in the mid-12th century, and Medieval Latin discooperīre “to uncover” gave English discover about 1300.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of covering.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of stoning and of being steeped in crime.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a man overwhelmed by missiles.[6][5]
  • mid-12th century – English cover is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cover completely, cover up, lapidibus cooperīre, to stone.[2]
  2. (participle) Overwhelmed, steeped (in crime, misfortune).[2]

Word family

  • cooperculum
  • cooperīmentum
  • coopertōrium
  • discooperiō
  • percooperio

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry

“Cooperio.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cooperio. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·