excito

Forms

excitō (present infinitive excitāre, perfect active excitāvī, supine excitātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

The OLD forms it from Latin ex- (“out”) + citō (“to set in motion”);^[2] Wiktionary and L&S take it as the frequentative of exciō (“to call out, rouse”).^[1][3] Both go back to cieō (“to set in motion”), which was replaced in classical Latin by the frequentative citō;^[4] de Vaan derives it from Proto-Italic *ki-eje- and an aorist Proto-Indo-European *ḱei- (“to start to move”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD cites Plautus: mē quī hōc noctis ā portū … excitāvit, “who fetched me from the harbour at this time of night”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Excitāre is “to cause to move” from rest, in hunting “to put up, flush” game, and “to rouse from sleep, wake” (Cicero: dormientem excitāre, “to wake a sleeping man”).^[2][3][1] It is “to call or fetch out”, and of physical forces “to set in motion, cause to break out” (Lucretius: the force of the blow strikes fire).^[2] It is “to rouse to activity, stir, encourage” (Cicero: your letter roused him greatly), “to stir up, provoke” trouble, “to heighten, sharpen”, and “to raise, build”.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “excite, stimulate, kindle, appeal to, raise up”.^[5] English excite (mid-14th century, “to stir up”) comes from it, directly or through Old French.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ā portū … excitāvit.^[2][7]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: quantum malī ex eā rē excitēs?.^[2][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of fire struck by a blow.^[2][7]
• mid-14th century – Borrowed into English as excite.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rouse, put up (game); to cause to move.^[2][3]
2. To wake, awaken.^[2][3][1]
3. To call out, summon.^[2][1]
4. To set in motion, cause to break out.^[2]
5. To excite, stir, encourage, stimulate.^[2][1][5]
6. To stir up, provoke.^[2]
7. To heighten, sharpen.^[2]
8. To raise; to build.^[2][1][5]

Word family

• excitabilis
• excitātiō
• excitator
• inexcītus

Related words

• cieō
• citō
• exciō
• English excite

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de