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fastidio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word fastidio

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

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fasˈtiː.di.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [fasˈtiː.di.o][1]

Forms

fastīdiō (present infinitive fastīdīre, perfect active fastīdīvī or fastīdiī, supine fastīdītum); fourth conjugation[1] Petronius uses the perfect participle in an active sense.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from fastīdium (“loathing, disdain”) with the verb suffix -iō.[2][3][1] De Vaan explains ⟨fastīdium⟩ as a compound ⟨*fastu-taid-o-⟩, shortened by haplology, of fastus (“haughtiness”) and taedet (“it wearies, disgusts”); ⟨fastus⟩ may go back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥s-tu- (“top, point”), and the origin of ⟨taedet⟩ is unknown.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has “why is he so haughty? He has such riches” in the Bacchides,[2] and Cato speaks of oxen that refuse their food.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to show aversion to food or drink, as Cato's oxen, and intransitively to put on airs or be disdainful, as in Plautus.[2][5] Transitively it is to regard with disdain or distaste, to scorn or turn away from, as Plautus' “why do you shrink from what you see you must do?”, and with an infinitive to disdain to do something, as Livy's plea not to disdain admitting the plebs to the priesthood.[2][5][1] Intransitively it is also to be squeamish, as Plautus' “all men are shrewd for their own profit and fussy”.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “scorn, shrink from, despise, spurn”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of haughtiness and of shrinking from a task.[2][7]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of oxen refusing food.[2][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of disdaining to admit others.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To loathe, show aversion to (food, drink); to be squeamish.[2][5][1]
  2. To be haughty, disdainful.[2]
  3. To disdain, scorn, despise, spurn; to disdain (to do).[2][5][1][6]

Word family

  • fastidibilis
  • fastiditas
  • infastiditus

Usage notes

Döderlein, following Lambinus, says we spernimus what is to be rejected or shunned, contemnimus great and fearful things such as danger and death, and dēspicimus what lies below us.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Fastidio.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fastidio. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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