Etymologically
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despuo

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Forms

dēspuō (present infinitive dēspuere); third conjugation, no perfect or supine stems[1] Georges and Conte give the perfect dēspuī and the supine dēspūtum.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + spuō (“to spit”).[4][5][1] De Vaan lists it among the compounds of spuō, which goes back to Proto-Italic *spū̆-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sp(i)uH-ie/o- (“to spit”), an onomatopoeic formation whose beginning was probably reshaped in the different languages.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the OLD first find it in Naevius,[6][4] in a comic fragment that speaks of taking someone to a place “where you will not spit” (ubi nōn dēspuās).[4]

Semantic evolution

Used without an object, it means to spit on the ground, especially as a rite to avert evil or disease:[4][2] Livy mentions a place where spitting is a matter of religious scruple, and Pliny the Elder describes people who say a charm three times and spit as often.[4] With an object it means to avert something by spitting (Pliny writes that by spitting we ward off epilepsy) and, figuratively, to spurn or reject: in Plautus someone is begged to spit away what he has said, and Catullus asks that his prayers not be spurned.[4][7] It can also mean simply to spit something out, as in Petronius.[4][3] Medieval authors keep both the literal sense and the sense to despise or reject.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it in a comedy.[6][4][9]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it figuratively, of spitting away words.[4][9]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of spitting as a religious rite.[4][9]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of warding off disease by spitting.[4][9]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of spitting something out.[4][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To spit on the ground, especially to avert evil or disease.[4][2]
  2. (transitive) To avert by spitting;[4][7] (figurative) to spurn, reject.[4][7]
  3. (transitive) To spit out.[4][3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To despise, disapprove of.[8]

Word family

  • desputamentum
  • desputum

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de