iacto

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈjak.toː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈjak.to]^[1]

Forms

iactō (present infinitive iactāre, perfect active iactāvī, supine iactātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is a frequentative of iaciō “to throw” with the suffix -tō.^[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Ennius, of hurling.^[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to throw, hurl, as Cicero's men scattering palm roots, to cast a net or dice, to toss about, and to throw away, jettison cargo, as in Livy.^[2][6] It meant to wave, brandish, as in Cato, to fling the body about, and of the sea to toss ships to and fro, as in Plautus, figuratively to harass.^[2] It meant to hurl words, to discuss freely, and to boast of, as in Caesar, reflexively to brag, show off, and with an ablative to pride oneself on, as in Cicero.^[2]

Spanish and Portuguese jactar “to boast” are borrowings.^[1] Late Latin iectāre, which replaced it, gave French jeter “to throw”, whence English jet in the 1690s.^[4]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of hurling.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of tossing at sea.^[2][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of boasting.^[2][5]
• 1690s – English jet is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To throw, hurl; to toss.^[2]
2. To throw away, jettison.^[2]
3. To brandish, wave.^[2]
4. (of the sea) To toss; to harass.^[2]
5. To utter; to discuss freely.^[2]
6. To boast of, (reflexive) to show off.^[2]

Word family

• iactābilis
• iactābundus
• iactantia
• iactanticulus
• iactātiō
• iactātor
• jactātus
• iactitō
• superiactō
• abiectō
• cōniectō
• dēiectō

Related words

• iaciō
• English jet

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 n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.