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exoro

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exoro

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (ōs)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈsoː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eɡˈzɔː.ro][1]

Forms

exōrō (present infinitive exōrāre, perfect active exōrāvī, supine exōrātum); first conjugation[1] Plautus has the archaic passive infinitive exōrārier.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- (“out, thoroughly”) and ōrō (“to plead, pray”).[3][4][1] De Vaan, against Walde and Hofmann and Ernout and Meillet, sees no reason not to take ⟨ōrō⟩ as a verb made from ōs (“mouth”), with “to plead, speak openly” as its first meaning;[5][4] Varro already derived it from ⟨ōs⟩.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is its first author,[6] with “do you want to be won over by love or by kisses?” in the Asinaria.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is to win someone over by entreaty, to persuade or prevail upon, with ut or nē, as Plautus' “beg her not to be angry with you”.[3][2] It is also to obtain something by entreaty, as Virgil's “having slain bullocks, he begs the peace of the gods”, and with two accusatives to beg something of someone.[3]

Church Latin glosses it “pray, plead, beseech, supplicate, implore, entreat earnestly”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of winning over by entreaty.[3][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence.[3][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of begging the peace of the gods.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To prevail upon, persuade by entreaty, win over.[3][2][1]
  2. To obtain by entreaty; to beg (something of someone).[3][1]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To implore, beseech.[7]

Word family

  • exōrābilis
  • exōrātiō
  • exōrātor
  • inexoratus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Exoro.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exoro. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·