exercitatus

Forms

exercitātus (feminine exercitāta, neuter exercitātum, comparative exercitātior, superlative exercitātissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Latin exercitō (“to exercise, train”).^[1][2][3] exercitō is formed from exerceō (“to keep busy, exercise”),^[4] which de Vaan lists among the compounds of arceō (“to contain, keep out”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Cicero,^[6] who asks in the Philippics who is more practised in public affairs.^[1]

Semantic evolution

It means trained, practised or versed in something, of people, and skilled, of speech and other attainments.^[1][3] Cicero and Caesar use the superlative, and Cicero and Nepos the comparative.^[2] Tacitus once uses it in a passive sense, of Britain never more troubled than at that time.^[1]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of men practised in public life.^[1][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of a troubled province.^[1][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Trained, practised, proficient, versed; of attainments, skilled.^[1][3]
2. Vexed, troubled.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de