extemplo

Forms

extemplō (not comparable)^[1] Plautus often has the older form extempulō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It goes back to ⟨*ex tempulō⟩, formed from ex (“out of”) and a diminutive ⟨*tempulum⟩ of tempus (“time”), as the OLD and Wiktionary have it; compare ⟨ex tempore⟩.^[2][1] Lewis and Short, the TLL and Köbler take ⟨tempulum⟩ as a diminutive of templum (“sacred precinct”), the place from which the augurs observed the sky.^[3][4][5] Servius, on Virgil, already explains it as said of augurs who rose ⟨ē templō⟩, “from the precinct”, once they had seen the signs.^[4] De Vaan derives ⟨tempus⟩ from Proto-Italic *tempos- (“stretch, measure”) and ⟨templum⟩ from the same root.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is its first author,^[5] with senex quom extemplō est, iam nec sentit nec sapit, “as soon as a man is old, he no longer feels or understands”, in the Mercator.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is “at once, immediately”, as Ennius' oarsmen who “sweep the sea gently at once”, and cum extemplō is “as soon as”.^[2][3] Livy and Virgil use it for “from the first”, as Hannibal fearing the dictator's prudence from the start.^[2] It also means “directly, without more ado”, as in Plautus and Lucretius.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has extempulō and quom extemplō.^[2][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius of oarsmen.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy for “from the first”.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. At once, immediately, forthwith.^[2][3][1]
2. cum extemplō: as soon as.^[2]
3. From the first.^[2]
4. Directly, without more ado.^[2]

Related words

• tempus
• templum
• statim
• īlicō
• repente

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts it with ē vestīgiō: both are opposed to delay, but extemplō refers to time (“in a moment”) and ē vestīgiō to place (“on the spot”); īlicō and īlicet are opposed to slowness.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper