evigilo

Forms

ēvigilō (present infinitive ēvigilāre, perfect active ēvigilāvī, supine ēvigilātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + vigilō (“to be awake, keep watch”).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first uses are in Cicero (81–43 BC), figuratively of cares and thoughts that kept watch through the night, and transitively of plans worked out with careful thought.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Tibullus has it of a night spent awake, and Ovid of books composed through careful study.^[2][4] From Statius and Pliny the Younger on it is common in the plain sense “to wake up”, and Fronto and Apuleius use the imperative figuratively, “wake up!”.^[2][6] The Vulgate has it both for waking from sleep and for being vigilant.^[7]

Medieval British writers used it also for rising from the dead, for lying awake or studying by night, and transitively for waking someone.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of cares that kept watch and of plans worked out with care.^[2][5]
• c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus uses it of a night spent awake.^[2][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of books composed with careful study.^[2][5]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it for waking up.^[2][6][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for waking and for vigilance.^[7][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To wake up, awaken.^[2][7]
2. (intransitive) To keep watch, be vigilant.^[2][7][10]
3. (transitive) To stay awake through (a night): est mihi nox … ēvigilanda (Tibullus 1.8.64), “I have a night to stay awake through”.^[2][4]
4. (transitive) To devise or compose with careful attention.^[2][4]
5. (Medieval Latin) To rise from the dead.^[8]
6. (Medieval Latin, transitive) To awaken (someone).^[9][8]

Word family

• ēvigilātiō

Related words

• advigilō
• invigilō
• pervigilō
• vigilō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson