feteo

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ˈfeː.te.oː]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [ˈfɛː.te.o]^[1]

Forms

fēteō (present infinitive fētēre); second conjugation, no perfect or supine stems^[1] Also spelled foeteō and faeteō; the OLD files it under foeteō.^[2][3] The manuscripts give ⟨e⟩, ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨oe⟩, and the TLL finds the evidence for ⟨e⟩ alone insufficient.^[4]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[4][1] The OLD and the TLL compare fimum (“dung”),^[2][4] and the OLD also suffiō.^[2] De Vaan reports Ernout and Meillet's view that ⟨ae⟩ may be the oldest spelling and their comparison with foedus¹ (“repulsive”).^[5] If ⟨oe⟩ is older, the verb is perhaps inherited from Proto-Italic *fwoit- or *fwōje/ot- (“smoking, smelly”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuoh₂-i- (“to smoke”), and cognate with Old Irish dé (“smoke”) and Hittite tuhhuu̯ai- (“smoke”).^[5] Wiktionary likewise takes it back to *dʰewh₂- (“smoke”), the root of fūmus.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,^[5][4] meaning “to stink”: in the Asinaria one character asks another whether his wife's breath smells (an fetet anima uxori tuae?).^[3]

Semantic evolution

Plautus already uses it figuratively of disgusting talk (fi! fi! fetet tuus mihi sermo, “ugh, your talk stinks to me”, in the Casina).^[3] Martial has a woman who smells of much wine,^[3] and Columella speaks of the reek of garlic and onions.^[3] In the 5th century Salvian writes that all the cities stink of brothels.^[3] Ecclesiastical Latin kept the plain sense “to stink”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of bad breath and of offensive talk.^[3][7]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of the smell of garlic and onions.^[3][7]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a woman who smells of wine.^[3][7]
• 435/439 AD – Salvian uses it of cities that reek of brothels.^[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To have a bad smell, to stink.^[2][3]
2. (figurative) To be offensive or disgusting.^[3]

Word family

• fētidus
• fētor

Related words

• fimum
• suffiō
• fūmus
• fūlīgō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de