Etymologically
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excito

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɛks.kɪ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛks.t͡ʃi.to][1]

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

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