evolo

Forms

ēvolō (present infinitive ēvolāre, perfect active ēvolāvī, supine ēvolātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- (“out”) + volō (“to fly”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces volō (“to fly”) to Proto-Italic *gʷela-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷelh₁-ie/o- (“to raise the arm, throw”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is in a tragedy of Accius, of rising from a lowly seat to the heights.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to fly out or away, as of hens that must be kept from flying out of the enclosure in Varro, or of an eagle from an oak in Cicero, and to fly up.^[2][5] Lucretius uses it of fire that flies out when stone is struck with iron.^[2] Of people it is to rush out or hurry forth, as of witnesses who suddenly burst out in Cicero's Pro Caelio, and to flee or escape, as of a quadrireme fleeing out of sight in the Verrines.^[2]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of flying up to the heights.^[2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of hens flying out of their pen.^[2][6]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of sparks flying from stone.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of witnesses rushing out and a ship escaping.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fly out or away.^[2][5][1]
2. To fly up; of things, to rise quickly.^[2][5]
3. To rush out, hurry forth.^[2][1]
4. To flee, escape.^[2]

Word family

• ēvolātiō

Related words

• volō

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 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. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de