Etymologically
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devoco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdeː.wɔ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.vo.ko][1]

Forms

dēvocō (present infinitive dēvocāre, perfect active dēvocāvī, supine dēvocātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + vocō (“to call”).[2][3][1] De Vaan explains vocō as a denominative from the stem of vōx (“voice”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *wōkʷs and Proto-Indo-European *uōkʷs (“voice”).[4] Cognate with Umbrian subocau (“I invoke”) and Sanskrit वाक् (vā́k, “voice, speech”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero on,[3][5] where it means to call someone away or divert them from one thing to another.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to call down from a higher place:[2] Livy speaks of calling Jupiter and the other gods down to help, and Cicero says that Socrates first called philosophy down from the sky.[2][6] Catullus uses it of Trivia drawn down from her heavenly circuit, and Tibullus of a song that calls bones from the pyre,[2] and Horace of stars brought down from the sky by spells.[6][7] It also means to call away or summon from a place: Cicero speaks of calling someone from a province to glory and a triumph, and Nepos of inviting to dinner all those seen in the forum.[2][6][7] Figuratively it is to divert from a course or occupation,[2] as when Cicero says that greed did not draw someone from his course to plunder, and Caesar has in dubium devocare, to put at risk.[2][6] Valerius Maximus uses rem ad populum devocare for referring a matter to the people.[2][7] Church Latin keeps the sense to call away or down.[8]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium, of diverting.[2][3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of calling philosophy down from the sky.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of calling the gods down to help.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To call down (from a higher place); to draw down by spells.[2][6][1]
  2. To call away, summon (from a place); to invite.[2][6][1]
  3. To call away, divert (from one activity to another).[2][6]
  4. In dubium dēvocāre, to put at risk.[6][7]

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 m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson